Fresh Finds THE MOVIE W/ Fremont Pike: Fresh Finds Podcast Season 5 Episode 9

Hey, before we get into the show, I wanted to let you know that this episode is brought to you by ME, this October, I'm celebrating five years of the Fresh Fines podcast, The Times New Roman. 10 Months Summer Freemont Pike And a special DJ set by my good friend Juan. So if you're in the area, come out and celebrate with us on Saturday, October 11th at Smalls Bar and Detroit, Michigan. Tickets are in the description below. Hello, and welcome to season five of the Fresh Fines podcast, the show about discovering new music with good people. I'm Ryan, and I'm joined today by the pop punk band Freemont Pike. How are we doing, guys? Good new. Good new. I am doing fantastic. I've been trying to put this together for a little while now. We've been going back and forth, finally got it going. It was extra tough because we kept on rescheduling and changing the venue, or was that like. Honestly, that didn't even have anything to do with it. It was gorgeous the fact that I was busy. It's been a busy summer. I've been, you know, the new album has been part of my heavy part of my rotation. But so I've been trying to get this going for a little while. Do you guys want to go around and just like introduce yourself, see what you're doing in the band, maybe get a little bit of like, you know, history, a little bit of background on how you guys got together and all that? Which, do you want to introduce yourselves or go right into the background? Well, you introduce yourselves first and then whoever wants to. How far back are we going? We need clear instructions. I don't know if you can hang out with us. At least we know how we're going to start on the spectrum of ourselves in the air or something. You can't, don't, if you go as an age, we'll take a lot of stuff. Alright, you really got to rain us in. Let's just start with the introduction. We'll get to the history after that. Starting on my side. I'm not sure that we're waiting for the history. We're just talking about a group of us. We'll know if he just says that we're going to start an anthem. He's not going to be able to go last. Oh, okay. I'm not going to be able to go last. He's not going to do anything last. I mean, his intro said this one. Good people. I think that just sent the bar to high for us. I don't think I've come over here to establish ourselves in me. You're there. You're establishing dominance. You're there in the hat. What's your name? My name is Andrew. Hey, you there in the other hat. What's your name? My name is Brandon. My name is Andrew. My name is Andrew. My name is Andrew. My name is Andrew. I play with him with our insane and free bond bike. And I also wear hats. My name is Rod. And I also like to party. No. Yeah. We can both be proud of it. It was funnier than this. Really? And my name is Bob Cottle. Most people refer to me just as Mac. And I'm the drummer. All right. And so you guys from what I could see. I did a little bit of digging on Instagram. And it looks like you guys kind of got together. Around 2020. Is. Was it? Or that or was that like? Yeah, right? But I mean, we all. Something was happening at the time. We all had our little projects. I don't. The. Oh, no. This is so hard. I didn't. I didn't know that I was making the shift to far right drifting. You know, Ryan, it's actually funny. You mentioned that. I was going to say this story for the later in the day. But for this protein power. I know. I know. I know. This podcast is sponsored by AG. Um, so I got a text today. Wait, should we talk about the history? And then you can tell the story. No, because we're already on Fox News. So we're. We're already. The wheels are. We're. Five. We're almost six minutes in. We haven't even. The viewers don't even know who we are. But that should not be. No, not at all. Not at all. Not at all. Biggest things I ate in the group once upon a time. So anyway, so I got. I got a text this morning from literally a family member. And they were like, Hey, I was watching Fox and Friends. It's fucking eight in the morning. I just woke up and snuck in my cat. Like, all right. That's the kind of day we're having. You know, I was watching Fox and Friends. And I could have sworn that I heard your band. What's up about that? Uh-oh. Well, immediately I checked our bank account. It was well. So I don't think that was us. That was my. No. No. It's Rupert Murrock is not showing out of money for our band. He should be there. Rupert. You're watching. Don yourself. Well, yeah. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Anyways, we're breaking. Like to give us a couple hundred thousand dollars and then that. Then go fuck yourself. Yeah. You know. Anyways, so. So my mom. My mom subsequently sent me a video on Facebook Messenger. Yeah. And I don't mean. Sorry. I don't mean that like she sent me a link to a video. I mean that she opened up the Messenger app, hit the camera icon and started recording whatever. Whatever was in front of her. And it was like the tail end of a Fox and Friends segment. Uh-oh. As in like a song was playing them into commercial. Okay. And that song was sugar. We're going down by fall. I was like, is this you? Right. The inside based on that is that a bunch of people keep saying that. Really? And if you listen to. What fucking follow us on is that? I'm looking about to be like, you know, sugar. We're doing those. No. Yes. Dance dance. Nope. I'll look it up. Thanks for the memory. Y'all. There's one that starts exactly like champagne or beer. Oh, you know, you have link that in the group chat. Oh, that's so fun. Yeah. Well, on the last episode that I put out actually there was another song that I really don't know. Like the first like half of the main riff. I was like, this is literally just what's my age again by the way. With like two notes changed. Oh, yeah. I'm just in a particularly dynamic genre of music, but we think we put it nice. Until we show them. Yeah. Wow. We're single handedly saving the genre. Between that and the age you one sponsorship, we're doing pretty okay. Yeah. But so getting us back on the rails at least. Oh, right. Back to the history. Yeah. So you guys kind of formed around 2020. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. So I'm the back of the historian. Okay. Which is funny because nothing's the like the legal historian, not like legal history, but he's qualified. Anyways. So I started freeman bike with my best friend. I found out that we're not fucking recording. We were recording. There were two likes that weren't for whatever. I swear. I had them all knowing. Whatever it will. Well, fuck it. We're back in the spirit of fucking friends. We'll do a lot. Was that the warm up? Well, welcome back everyone. Welcome back. We'll make it work. Well, I mean, it's probably good because you screamed into the microphone before. So that didn't. Yeah. That was probably only heard like from an ambie. Exactly like you were outside. I hope so. So me and my best friend were in this bar in Toledo watching this really crummy cover band. And that was around the time that I like first started going back to shows. Yeah. Like I did a lot when I was like younger. Could you be present for one second? I'm trying to. I'm trying to. I'm trying to do the thing where I was like, oh, this is exactly what this song is. He's trying to be the only song for. Yeah. Hey, hey, if you're watching on Patreon and you saw that actual intro, I'm doing the research right now. If you don't know what I'm talking about previously on the podcast. Okay. This is now becoming the FreshFine podcast movie. This is great. It's all about now. Yeah. So we joined, we joined our broadcast already in progress. Breaking news. Breaking news. So anyways. So what? And his head just did that. So we get back from the bar and we had had a few pops. Sure. So we're like, we could absolutely do this better than that cover band. So before we had a single song written, we had a Twitter, Rest and Peace account made and shirts ordered. And then we, this thing happened that was before you even had like a song written or anything. We had, we decided on a name because we had an order for shirts made. We had like four or five names. Incredible. The one that looked best on the gray shirts was Fremont Pike. What were some of the other names? I actually don't know this. I remember one of them was high honor. And we're like, well, that's a little bit too hard as fuck for the music that we want to make. I was going to say that. That's my favorite kind of record. That's actually a hardcore band that started out like in a youth group or something. Actually, no, don't do that. They got their break at level 432. Yeah. Do you remember Craig Owens from Chodos? This is him now. He's in high honor. No, actually, he had, so Dylan had some kick ass ideas for, for high honor. It was going to be like card themed. Okay. No, that's it. Like playing cards. Like, like playing cards. When you said card themed, I was like, I was imagining like a whole no. No, I was thinking like a hallmark. I was thinking like, like magic, the gathering. You guys like start making up. - We do have like trading cards and shit. - Oh really? - Yeah, I didn't even know that. - I was so funny, I said that. - Mike from, yeah, Mike from a few good records made magic that gathering cards. I think of all four of us. - Oh no, we're all officially in the deck now. - That's sick. - You can use this in competition. - Mine's hope blue eyes, white dragon. - No, stop, that's, that's magic, right? - That's you, you. - That's you, you. - Yeah, that's you, you. - Can we cut that? - No. (laughing) - That's embarrassing. - I'm not cutting any of this. - This is gold. (laughing) - Anyways, I'll give you the abridged version of the rest. So like, pandemic happened, we were all there. That was awful. So we just did a bunch of like Twitter live streams of like the songs that we did, right? - Okay. - Did you guys try and start a fight with. - Oh, Jen's apartment? - No. - No. - Oh. - We spread dirty lies. - Oh, Tucker Carlson. - Yeah, you had a-- - That was Tucker online for a while. - A little bit. We've patched things up. (laughing) - I'm not. - You guys are on the same side now. - Nope. Nope. Anyways. Anyways. I just, I didn't know how to be online and I still don't. - Okay. - So I would just make a bunch of like fight graphics. Like the tail of the tape. Like you'd see like for a boxing match. - Oh, you know what? Like the title card. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - I know what you're talking about. - Yeah, and it would be me versus Tucker Carlson. And I like, I got soft block from his account on Twitter for sure. - That's so funny. - So I suppose they're aware around the same time I accidentally wound up in Newsweek for one of my tweets. - Oh, wow. - I remember hearing this story. - Yeah. - I remember you're telling me this one. - I'm not familiar with any of this deep lore. - No, this is like-- - This is like-- - It's pretty deep lore, this is-- - This is like Sorcerer Town. - No, we're down there on the Wikipedia page. - Somebody would hear about the rest of us in this band before right now. (laughing) But in Andrew's defense, there's a lot of this stuff is like it's relevant because you really have to understand this to be like, oh, this is why the four of them haven't killed each other yet. - Oh, I see, I see, okay. - It truly is, it truly is. - It truly is. - It truly is. - Laying the foundation. Talk with the job out now. - Hell yeah. - This could be. - So anyways, this guy in Ohio said a bad word to a person at a circle, okay, I got hit it with a twisted teak hand. Do you remember that? - Oh, yeah, yeah. - Yeah. First of all, the guy that hit him is dead, which is awful. So rip to that guy. - That's crazy. - Rest in peace, twisted teaking. (laughing) So I just put it to the Dave Matthews band and Martian, where it's like, (mimics drumming) - Oh, wait. (mimics drumming) (upbeat music) (mimics drumming) (mimics drumming) (mimics drumming) (mimics drumming) - I feel like I've seen that video. - That's so funny. - I've seen it in Newsweek and it just started, like that was my only experience with going, like, set my viral, which to be honest with you, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, because my phone was getting notifications to the point where it was just kind of hot. - Yeah, so I've had that on like a couple of like, TikToks that I've posted that like just randomly popped off and you're like, I can't do anything that's on like the top like eighth of my screen, because there's a notification coming down every single time. - Dude, I sent a DM to Eric from Heart Attack Man and I was like, hey, you get a bunch of hits on your stuff. How do you manage this awful bombardment of notifications? And he basically just rolled me back and said, you're kind of fucked. (laughing) - Incredible. - That's so cool. (laughing) - So that was fun. - I mean, hey, he says it is, I guess. - Listen, listen, so I changed my username to like, free of my bike, shit poster or something. And I got us like quite a few follows on Twitter at the time, so flash forward to like 20, 21 things started to open up a little bit and we just put out a tweet saying, hey, he wants to be in a band. He showed up. - Sure did. - And he actually came to the rehearsal and knew the songs, which was crazy. - All five of them. - All five of them. (laughing) - The homework. - Well, and like I didn't know how to write a song then, so one of the five songs was like, a novel's worth of material, because I just didn't know like how to be concise. Like if you really like, and/or have ever heard, please don't date my therapist, that song used to be like six minutes. - Really? - Yeah. - Yeah. - And it was never meant to be like an epic, like that one. - Never meant nice. - Yeah. - You said never meant nice, that nice. - Yeah, no, yeah. It was American football, instrumental. - Careful, Muckles, Canadian. - Canadian softball. Is that something or is that nothing? - No, that wasn't Canadian baseball. - What, no, what the? - There was like a parody band. - Yeah. - That was shared along G, right? - Yeah, that's right, yeah. - I don't think you can say that. - If we're going down the, down the route of pop punk, I mean, - You have to mention, right? - Exactly. - Do you think Fantano's gonna see this one? - I hope so. - Oh, almost definitely. - I mean, Fantano or Biato want to talk. I just want to talk. - Also, Fantano, we're sorry. You're not gonna like it. Sorry, man. (laughing) I don't think people like Fantano. I don't, I don't have a pulse on the scene like this. - I just think, I think he just want to lawsuit. - He want to lawsuit? - Yeah. - Did they sue the wrong Anthony Fantano? - Originally, yeah. - Yeah. - That's the only thing that made the soda company. That makes sense. - Yeah, I think so. - Yeah. (laughing) - Old Anthony Fanta. And then third Brandon, we got Malcolm. And then Anthony has just kind of been there. (laughing) Yeah, I played a fifth of the bowl together. And I was like, "Hey, you know your ways." I was like, "Yeah, you know your way around a bass guitar. "You got to be in a band," he had, "Yeah." - And he was like, "Yeah." - Okay. - So that was something that I was also finding interesting 'cause I was going back through the depths of the discography. And I found the first EP that you guys seem to not even really consider like canon anymore. - That's basically super canon. - The pandemos. - That's super not canon. - No, it's techno canon. - Fremont Pike and Fit the Bill. And I was like, "It's really interesting that your first thing "that you ever put out was a collaboration." But I guess that makes sense, yeah. - So in terms of this group, only Andy and Dylan were on pandemos, right? - Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah, so that was before this kind of group came together. And then it was after that that we started, that the story that Andy's telling is how these kind of group came together. So I think the first official thing we did, this lineup did was the-- - The press of growth, right? - No, it would have been actually the live EP. - Oh, yeah. - Yeah, we did that live off the board. - Yeah, live at Fit the Bill House. - Oh, yeah. - I forgot about that. - So that was the first thing we really recorded together. - Didn't that get pulled off of Spotify 'cause it got added to a playlist. - No, I've got bodied. - So the track everyone I know is Gays is dead from that EP got bodied to shit. - Oh my gosh. - Oh my gosh, times. - And at that point, we were like-- - Different times, really. - Certainly. - Yeah. - At that point, we were putting out singles for the album. And like, obviously anytime you put something new out, you're gonna see a small spike in the streams or whatever. - Yeah. - But like, our shit went bananas. And we had like an unreasonable amount of monthly listeners. - So-- - Not good. - Yeah, not great. - So the way you went, you know-- - We were psyched for like 10 seconds and we're like, "Hey, wait, hold on." - Oh, God, we have to make any sense. - Is Sony gonna call? Sony was not gonna call. - Guys, say never, people listen to everybody. I know who's Gays is dead yesterday. - Hell yeah. - Guys, we're at the live album. - It was an album from Sweden. - They're all in Belize. That's crazy. - That's unbelievable. - Yeah. - They're all in Helsinki for whatever reason. - Yeah. - We might actually have some listeners in Iceland though. When we put out the second EP, I did like an improv to trip to Iceland for like 48 hours. And we were in this Irish pub. Everywhere you go in the world, there's always gonna be an Irish pub. - Nice. - It doesn't matter, like I've had-- - Thank God. - Yeah, it's like true. - I've been to a few different countries and every one of them has like invariably has an Irish pub. - Classics never go out of style. - If it ain't broke, but we had just put out Detroit girl, I think, and I was pretty jazzed on it. So I was like, you know, Macon on the bartender? No, I wasn't. - What? - I was just trying to, I was just trying to get a free beer. It didn't work. - Thinking you were hot shit. - Not even almost. - I have music on Spotify. - Yeah, did you know that? - I have got the blue check mark and I didn't pay for it. (laughing) - Can you sell a blue check mark read on it anymore? - Yeah, no, no, I'm not paying for that shit. But anyways, she played it to a very empty bar and I had this video on my phone of like, Detroit girl playing and I like pan out just to like an empty bar and the bartender goes, it was full when he got here. (laughing) - That rolls credible. - So there might be one or two in like, recuvert, I don't know. - Yeah, that's so funny. So you guys, yeah, kind of got started around when people started getting back together in person again and things like that. And you guys over the last couple of years have had a pretty strong run of EPs because you had, what was it? The price of growth with life without a pulse and breakfast with a raccoon that all came out within like two years, right? - It was about an EPs a year, I thought. Was it one of your? - Yeah, just about. - I think the last two both came out in 2023, but it was like six months apart there. - Okay. - So much started getting like that. - Yeah. - Yeah, we went pretty crazy with it. - So you guys have been, you know, you had been doing that, you had been putting out stuff and then you got to the point of like, kind of starting to work on this record. How long ago was like the start of the entire process? two years ago now. A lot happened in a short amount of time and there was a lot of waiting for the next pieces. I would say, basically, it was the summer of 2023. So it was springtime and we were talking that we won and so this was before Breakfast with the Raccoon was even out. We had the two EPs out and we decided we wanted to pursue an album. My good friend Alex Chuck Krauts, who's a producer in Ontario, I was talking to him and he expressed an interest in working with us so then we kind of started setting that up together. And it was a pretty streamlined process. That summer, basically, we tracked the entire, it wrote and tracked the entire instrumental for the record. So we went to a cottage on Paradise Lake and basically just took a writing retreat for about a week and wrote basically the entire record. We came in with demos and stuff like that, so it's not like we came in completely dry. But we came in with enough material to kind of get almost every song off the ground and when we left, we had the whole album basically written. At that point, we had about a month to learn all of our parts and really nail it all down and then we went into the studio and basically tracked the whole thing over about a week as well. That's pretty efficient with your time. Do it in an entire record in like a week. I think we wrote the album over Memorial Day and then we went to the studio over Fourth of July. Because we all work full time jobs. So we got to maximize that PTO. So we have like long weekends and then we just have to take like an extra two or three days. Yeah. Yeah. So this is the thing where like we had either the Friday or the Monday off and we're like, okay, well, we'll take the Friday and then we'll leave Thursday night. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we did that shadow to Scary Nome or SG Studios in Wardsville, Ontario. That's where we recorded pretty much all of the instrumental. And even then too, we, that's so basically everything you hear on the album that was tracked was tracked there. And then Chuck started mixing it just so that we could have like rough mixes to then do the vocals on. So then the vocals were basically done over the next year in like three or four different sessions. Some here, some is in Ontario as well. Gotcha. And were you guys self-produced before that point? Yeah, that was everything. Yeah, Malcolm does our videos. He does our drums. He does our recording. Now we're going to unplug Malcolm's microphones so you can't argue when we're trying to be nice about it. So does anyone need a beer? I'll just leave and get more beer. No, they're right here. I want you to get some burger, buddy. Are you actually going to go in and get more beers? I do need another one. There's one right here. There you go. So I know like we went through and did like the introduction of the things and it's like, I like Anthony plays bass. I play Lee and Andrew plays rhythm and things and Malcolm's the drummer. And then we stopped but like Malcolm does so much more than just the drumming. Like, there is no chance that this band would be the way that it is if Malcolm wasn't in it. Like, if we all weren't in it. Yeah, I understand. Yeah, but I understand that it's like a collaborative thing and all of us bring something to the table. But I think the thing is is that I think a lot of people structure a lot of people assume that we're all bringing 25% and it's like Malcolm is bringing 60% and the rest of us are bringing like 15. We were split in the hard 40. Yeah, like it's not super equal. We might be splitting a hard 30. Like it might be like a 70, 1010 time. Well, especially now at the albums, we got Chuck. Yeah, it's like his wizardry. Give me like, what do you help do? So Anthony and I will take 10. You can have 15s. That was a 25 and then Matt gets 75. All right. Okay, so as long as that translates to the royal taste. So wait a goddamn minute. Okay, now he's talking to Mike. Now we're getting into negotiations. Sorry guys, I had to do it. I had to do a math when I was off the clock. But like genuinely like Malcolm is the one that has the recording knowledge. He's the one that has the studio experience. He's the one that has a lot of the writing experience. Like Andrew can write really good songs but making making something that is like the six minute version of Please Don't Date My Therapist and then Malcolm cutting it into three and a half minutes. Yeah, and all of us being like, oh my god, this isn't you're all right. I would didn't do it. Like cutting it down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is the essence of what this song is and this is how it's good. Like Malcolm has all of that knowledge. And also he's just like a good dude. So he wants to do it. Like he's not he's not doing it because he hates us. He's doing it because he's like, I want this to be good because my fucking name's on it. Yeah, I don't want this to sound like shit. So it makes us better because he's good. And that's what I was noticing when I was like looking at like some of the music videos and stuff like that. As I noticed that it was on Malcolm's YouTube channel. Sure is. With a shout-out Malcolm column in here. Yeah, and also Man Crush Monday. Coincidence? I think not. Definitely not. We made this up. But I wrote this movie. So I was I was looking through all that. And yeah, I say that you guys have done like, you know, your your own music videos. You've done your own production up to the point of the record. So did I'm curious like how the process changed over the course of that with like being a little bit more hands-off with the production, letting somebody else take it was was that was that weird for you? Or was it kind of kind of freeing to be like, oh, I don't have to worry about this anymore? Well, Chuck is like just kind of one of our friends. Sure. So like as you've seen by the 18 minutes and 12 seconds. Plus what recording is before we restarted it. Plus the unrequited stuff. The secret files. The stuff behind the paywall. We should call the secret files. Actually, we're not gonna do that. The secret files. Who's making different files? Don't worry about it. As you've seen with this, like we don't like pedestal eyes. Someone who like controls the fate of our art. Especially like if you're a good dude, so we'll just like be your friend and make you our friend whether you want to be our friend or not. Tell us how I got here. And it was kind of it was kind of the same thing with Chuck. And I think with him and Mack like growing up together and like understanding like how each other works. Like the work that we did on the first three EPs really prepped us for being in that like professional recording environment. Oh, sure. So I didn't notice of huge change. I think honestly the biggest person that noticed the change was Malcolm because he got to do his parts and then just sit down which is rare. Yeah, it was nice that like when we went to the studio to record like we started primarily with drums and like other people would fill in as Malcolm needed a break or needed to eat or whatever like so Malcolm stuff was done first. But then he's got to sit and be like, I think we should do this. And he didn't have to do it. Just being the five. He was just like sitting on the couch with his feet kicked out. And he was like, fuck yeah, and that was all he had to do. Like he didn't, he wasn't the one behind the desk. And also how many days for you to drum? Like the four, three or four? Three, three and a half. Yeah, it was what we planned, right. And you did it in two. Fucking two. And you're not doing one because Chuck made you stop. We yeah, we did hit a point on day one where we were just like we could probably keep going. But like let's just save something for tomorrow. Yeah, sure, sure. I think I remember being in the room. And I think Chuck said we should save something for for tomorrow. Cause and then you cut in and said, I don't want to be bored. I think I remember that happening. I need something to do. Yeah. Well, and that's been the fun part like it to back up just a little bit here. I think what's really been great about this band is we're kind of just down to experiment. I think that's the really great thing is like, yeah, I've been doing all the production for like video and audio for like the three EPs and all the music videos and everything like that. But that really comes from a place of like interest and collaboration and trying out new things. So it's not like the band just sort of gives me unfettered like freedom to do just whatever I want or make all the decisions. It's just I have a technical background that I wanted to be able to use to move the band forward at a faster pace than your average band. Yeah. And I just genuinely love doing this stuff. I have a genuine genuine passion for just being in a band and making music with people that I like and I'm inspired by. And everyone brings just a great level of creativity and just interest in all these projects. And that's what I love so much about it is that all those music videos were huge collaborations. And it really comes from a place of like, hey, I got an idea. And then we kind of just kick it around until we go, oh, that's funny. Let's do that. Yeah. Oh, that sounds fun. Let's do that. So like Andy said to, I think the three EPs that we did were really in prep to be like kind of to a point as a band to be able to work with someone like Chuck. And a little bit of background on that. So I actually went to high school with Chuck. Okay. His full name is Alex Krauts. But he introduced himself to me as Chuck. So that's what I call him. And that's how I introduce him. But he's not just like somebody. I just want to throw that out there. He went to Oyart in Ontario. And he worked at Noble Street Studios in Toronto. He's worked with bands like Three Days Grace, Billy Talent, the Bear Naked Ladies. He's been on sessions with Drake and Tyga. You know, he's worked, he's a world class. Right. Pretty good resume. Yeah, no, he's not like he's just a dude. He's like, yeah. I guess, and I guess maybe to you. And to me, I'm just a dude. I'm just a dude with like a passion. And I just like, I just took the time to kind of learn how to do this stuff. And these guys gave me the freedom to keep practicing on it with this project. So then I got better. Whereas he's a bona fide professional. Yeah. So for me, with him being a close friend and collaborator, I really was at the point where like, yeah, I really like to work with Chuck. Because I think he would really like working with this band. And I think everyone would click. But I also had kind of the presumption, I guess, that I was like, but this band needs to be ready. This band needs to be ready to work with someone in his caliber. I don't want to just throw us in to the first like opportunity. I want us to have been gone, have gone through the studio process a few times. So they know what to expect. He knows that we're ready to step up to the plate of his caliber. Because I think that's the thing. Is you have to have respect for people of that kind of caliber. And if you get the chance to work with those people, it's a matter of stepping up to the plate kind of thing. So I think that's what a lot of the work we did with EP1 and 2 ended up being. And then I think that's really influenced our sound after that too. Because working with a professional producer, he again just refined our sounds. Everything is so to the point. And so refined. It's really, really quite cool. And you can also like see the effects of it now. Like Andy's been. and throwing out some new demos already. And you can just see how much better they were than before. - Oh, sure. - Because he's gone through that experience so many times and worked with that kind of caliber of person. - I learned how to double. - Ooh, boy. (laughing) And hard left, hard right, suddenly you got a big sound. - That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about. But one of the things, 'cause you kind of teed up this question that I had in my back pocket, but going into just kind of the process of the record in general, something that I noticed upon multiple listens is over the course of a couple different songs. I can't remember if it's two or three or something like that. There's a recurring line about chasing 20 something pipe dreams. And so I was curious if there's any sort of like, if there was an urgency going into it that you guys were like, we're not getting any younger. If we're gonna do this, let's finally actually do it or like, I'm just trying to pull on that thread a little bit because I noticed that it came back and so I'm like, I feel like there's gotta be something important there. - I'm not sure if I could just jump in. I'm not sure there was a feeling of urgency with the project. I think that was just more from like a lyrical standpoint where we tend to just be in life. - Sure, yeah. - But I think like the project to me felt very like relaxed and fun and natural. Like it didn't feel like it was something we were rushing through or anything like that. And I think, you know, and again too, it was just like, it was just a bigger thing that we had never done before. I think you asked previously like, what was it like to release the reins or whatever? To me, I didn't feel like that because one, I trust Chuck intimately because he's a very close personal friend of mine and we've collaborated on a lot of stuff. But also because like, it was just a full length album and I kind of said, I was like, I can't do a full length. I don't have the time to mix and do all that kind of stuff. We need to kind of give it to somebody else. So I think that's what kind of opened it up. So I didn't feel any like pressure really or like urgency with it to like do it before we turned X amount of age or anything like that. But I'll let Andy speak to the actual lyrics themselves. - No, I mean, we're all 48 years old, so we're not. - Look great. - It's the water to be honest. Keep, just keep drinking water. - No, the 20-something pipe dreams line, I don't know where that came from. - It's in Otter Creek, right? - Is it in Otter Creek? - It's in Otter Creek. It's in Ligma. And I think it was supposed to be somewhere else too, but we wound up just like going with a different lyric. - I think it came from a note. - Well, that's what I was getting to is for this album, specifically, I use a lot of anthony's just kind of, how do you just, I don't know what to do. - It's not garbage. Like it is a lot of like, it's kind of just me like putting things in this note as it comes. - It's a garbage heap. - It's very honest. - Just process. - Yeah, just riffing on ideas. - Yeah, and it's triplets down. - Yeah, yeah, no seriously, so like a few times, 'cause I had probably the hardest time coming up with lyrics for this album that I did, anything else that we've ever done. 'Cause usually I write the lyrics first, and then we make music around it. - Yeah. - But with this one, we just had, you know, nine tracks ready to go so quickly that I was like, fuck, I can't. Like basically when we were at the writing retreat, I would do my parts very generally, and then just go for walks and try to like, come up with stuff and dig through ideas. So at one point, we had like a shared note, or a shared Google drive. - Oh, sure. - That just had like, you know, random bips and bobs and things we wanna talk about, and things that, you know, meant something to us. Well, Anthony put in our band group chat at one point, like, "Hey, I've just been kind of writing like stream of consciousness thoughts down." - Okay. - I don't think he said it like that, but that was like the spirit of what he said. - Yeah. (laughing) - And, and lyrically, I really like songs and I've never been able to put like a finger on what exactly it is, but I like lyrics that just kind of seem stream of conscious thought. - Yeah. - That don't have like a strict rhyme scheme, that don't, like they just kind of go. Like I see the wonder years do that a ton, I see a lot of bands do it, and that's something that I'm chasing lyrically is to like have that feeling. - With this album we went pretty rhymy. - Okay. - Pretty rhyme heavy. - Sure. - Just because it was just impossible to write for, but I would go through, I would go through Anthony's like stream of conscious thoughts, and like for every paragraph, there'd be like three lines where I'm like, holy shit. - That is good. - Yeah. - I remember one he opened up and he started with, I'm on boats again, and he just wrote like a novel about boats. - I remember that day. - I remember that day, 'cause I was hanging out with Anthony that day. - Were you on a boat? - No. - Anthony has a different kind of boat. Different kind of boat. - Anthony's on a boat, for sure. - Yeah, it's definitely on a boat. - It's so wild. - Yeah, so I think that's one, something Pyramus thing came from that, from one of his notes, and I was like, that's fucking sick, and then it just wound up becoming like a motif completely unintentionally. - See, and that's something that I really like in a record is when there is like a, you know, some sort of recurring theme or recurring melody, or something like that that kind of like strings together, like, you know, these broader concepts into, you know, kind of one thing. - I think that's definitely in the first two EPs, 'cause I remember, Andrew, you talking about that pretty specifically, that you wanted that kind of a thing. - Yeah, I like starting with like a thesis, and then building from that, like, when we-- - I like to do a homework when he's writing songs. - Yeah. - That was some of my fucking college edgica. EP2 was a college assignment. - I remember. - You remember that? - Literally. - Nice. - Shout out, I don't-- - Dr. Eurena? Shout out, Ray. Not your, Ray. That's not your girlfriend, my professor from college, that I went to. Yeah, no, I like to start off with like a very broad concept, and then just see how many individual things I can pick out of that. - Sure. - And that was very prevalent, I think, in the first two EPs. I don't know how prevalent it was in the LP. That's, there remains to be seen. - Yeah, 'cause the LP's like, well, the first two EPs too, like, we got the titles for them from lyrics, that we felt kind of like represented kind of the whole thesis. Like you said, yeah, it just, I think the big thing is that we attacked the LP just completely differently than we had done the rest of them. With the other ones, like Andy said, usually he had like, lyrics started, then we'd write music to it, and then we'd kind of like refine it into a song from like a couple different angles that everyone would kind of come in. And honestly, we wouldn't write together. We would sort of write everyone's parts as they recorded them, with me sort of like being the producer to like, sit there and kind of like make sure that everything was jelling correctly. So for the album, that was the first time we had ever all like made the time to write together. And like I said, we had like demos that we had done kind of individually. Some of them were half songs, some of them were like done songs, but they were again just demos. And we spent that whole cottage weekend basically going through like every part and being like, does this make sense? Is this right? Is it in the right order? Does it need a different part? Does it need to be focused on something different? Yeah. It was the first time we had ever really done that. And then to do that with the lyrics kind of too, because after we tracked everything at SG Studios, Chuck got like rough mixes of the whole thing and sent them to us and then basically drafted the lyrics. And then again, we got together for a couple of weekends and pre-prod all of the vocals. So we had a recording of all the vocals that were done here before we went in again with Chuck to do like, final vocals basically. Oh, nice. Yeah. So we weren't in the studio trying to figure out what we were doing. Yeah. We had like, I would say even slightly more than a skeleton when we walked in. Which, that's a really smart way to go about it when you're paying for a studio time. Because I think that that's another thing that like, people who come from a very self-produced background may not realize is how efficient you want to be. You want to actually get into the studio if you're paying for the time. Because if you're trying to write shit in the studio like the entire thing, that gets expensive real quick. Yeah. And that's what we did because it was just the four of us just kind of figuring it out. Whereas that was the big difference with this record is it was other people's time and it was our money for the studio time and everything like that too. So yeah, I think that made for a very different approach. I know we're talking about doing something completely different for the next project already. Nice. Surprise. And going back to your thing about really liking sort of stream of consciousness style lyrics as well. Are you familiar with the band "Topiaery Creatures" from Nashville? No, but you have my full attention. So they are super cool. They're like synthy type of band, but they're kind of emo. I don't really know how to describe it. They're totally a thing of their own. And they're vocalist who writes all their lyrics and stuff like that too, writes them as poems first. They don't even have to rhyme or anything because that's one type of poetry, but you don't have to do that. And so they write poems and then they write the songs around the poem without even thinking about it like lyrics. So I was going to say, so based on what you were saying, I think that you would really dig that. Was any of them one more time? "Topiaery Creatures" from Nashville. Sorry, I was amending one of my songs on our playlist. Because while we were sitting here and Andrew was talking, I had an intrusive thought and I was like, oh my god, I want to change all my songs. That's what I was doing. I was like, oh my god, wait, I'm changing all my songs. Why would you tell everyone what I did? Wait, did Billy Strings actually do a cover? Yeah, he did. He plays the outro in the scene. The end credits is Billy Strings. Are you shitting me? Yeah, no, that's real. 100% straight up. I need to jump into the new-- Have you not started them? No, I would. Actually, it's really good. It's really good. That's all bad about that. I'll start watching something that I've seen a million times. [BLANK_AUDIO] and I'll hear people talking about the new King of the Hill or I've been better about the New South Park episodes, but my mind just refuses to accept any new media. But I'll fucking watch how I've put your mother nine times in a row. Have I got a musical genre for you? (laughing) It's all coming together. - So here's another quick question about just like lyrics and not even a lyric actually, but the title of the project is dog with a job and the singles that you released up to the album as well, that it was dog with a job was the record label that you like put it under on like streaming and stuff like that too. So I'm curious where that all came from. - Yeah, distro kid, just let's see or write anything. - Yeah, no, they do. That is, are you familiar with the band Harrison Gordon? - Yes. - Yeah, so there, I think it's the album, their record label is Bring Back Bush Apple. - That's awesome, that's something we can all get behind. - I think so. - I think we just started a new bit for Bring Back Bush Apple. - Yeah, you'll be label mates. - Right, I don't know how much digging you did, dude, but if you look at the fucking credits for all of our releases, I gave Malcolm a different middle name. - Oh, I didn't know it was that, that's so funny. - So his middle name is Anthony, right? - Maybe. - But we don't know, and he would never tell me. So I would just say, well, - He doesn't want the government tracking. - Malcolm, so it was like Malcolm Amadeus, Malcolm Aristocrat, like literally every single song, there is a different A for this. - That's so funny. I need to, I need to look at that later. - That's something I'm looking at later. - 30 of my 70 points on anything. (laughing) - It's a divided game. - 'Cause I need to get my number in the middle of it or all you. - Fucking FBI just comes in and arrests me for tax evasion. (laughing) - There's 37, 10, 99s that haven't been sent, right? (laughing) - Who is this man? - Oh, a dog with a job, that was his question. - Oh yeah, I was gonna say that was the thing that I did. - I was just, I defer that to Brandon, that's what Brandon's doing. - Yeah, so I think the easiest way to explain it is that, if you have spent any time with the four of us or any mix of the four of us in any capacity, we're all reasonably like goofy people, like we'd like having fun and being dumb, which is why I just- - I didn't notice. (laughing) - It's gonna be amazing. - Oh, look at this to the contrary today. - Yeah, you can believe it. And like, I think one of the things about this band is that we are all like this, but conversely, like when we're finished recording this podcast and we go downstairs to practice, we're gonna practice. - Yeah. - And so, there will be tears. - Like, and I mean, I haven't played in a while so the band can swear to me. - It's gonna be the verbal abuse. - I might cry. - And it was a thing where, at some point in my life, someone described me as a dog with a job because like, I'm down to just like hang out and be goofy and silly and stupid or whatever. But if there's a job to be done, I'm doing the job and I'm not fucking around until it's done. And then I'll go back to fucking around. And I was like, guys, isn't that funny? And they were like, yeah. And then we like went to the studio. Or not to the studio. I'm sorry, I went to the college to write the album. - Yeah. - And that's what it was. As we all showed up and we were like, screwing around all morning, or like when we first got up. And then when we sat down to work, it was like all of us were quiet. We were all working. Everyone was focused. And I was like, guys, we're all dogs with jobs. - It's like, it's like the switch. - No, he's absolutely right though. I mean, I remember having that conversation kind of earlier in the band too of, we had like a conversation of like, what's our image? Like what do we want to like-- - What do we check? - You're like, you know, like just how do we want to be? And I remember we had like, it was supposed to be like an hour long conversation and it was like 10 minutes and we all just went, we want to take the music seriously, but not ourselves. - And it was kind of just like not it. And when I'm like, yeah, that sums it up, you know? - Yeah, no, and I remember you, and even like at the cottage too, I remember like if you were in the room, you were working and you were being serious about whatever we were doing. And then if you just stepped outside, totally different like-- - Okay, upstairs or outside. Totally different vibes. But if you were in the main room, you were working. - Oh, it sure is. - When we were at the studio, it was like, if you were in the studio and you were in the engineering room with Chuck while someone was recording, you were sitting in there and you were quiet. Like, you weren't fucking around. You weren't joking. You weren't talking to people. Like, somebody was working and you were watching. - Making suggestions. - Like, you were there to help. - Giving you weren't there to like, just hang out. - Actively listening and trying to-- - It was like, you were there to work on something. Like, Andrew and I would sit in there together because like, I would be writing leads and I would want his input for like, so what are you doing in this part? Like, where are you trying to take this so I can try and figure out how I can get there without just following you? - Yeah. - I'm gonna go up or down the neck. - Yeah, do you want me to go up or down the neck? - And then we almost broke up. (laughing) I'm not having a good time either. (laughing) And then we almost broke up. So it was just something where it was like, we're all down to mess around and like, have a good time. - Yeah. - And there's like, all of us probably can think of a handful of moments where we're like, oh, this is a time where I was not being serious and here's a time where I was very, very, very focused. - Yeah. - But it was like, as soon as you put a task in front of any of us, we're no longer like, laughing and joking and slapping beers out of each other's hands and spraying champagne on each other. It's like, we're here to work and then when we're done working, then we'll go outside and throw any over the fence and we try to put them on Andrew's shoulders and then run around the yard with them. We'll do that stuff, but it's after he's recorded. - Well, the thing that I've noticed with the whole band image as a whole, is it seems like you guys have put a lot of effort into that. Because I mean, even just going into your live show, you guys have your tracks that introduce the set and you have your specific times that, oh, this is going to be a tuning break. And so we have the tracks that play and say something funny while we're all getting tuned to get-- - Yeah, funny man says I'm the funny, I get into trying to tune the track team in. - Or even the matching baseball uniforms that you did and stuff like that. It's very clearly put together, but it's also goofy at the same time. Which I commend you guys for because there are a lot of people who don't think about the small little details like that. And so you have like a tuning break and you kind of lose like momentum of the set or whatever. And I think that putting that amount of effort into it really helps you guys stand out. - One of my favorite things is when one of us goes to a concert and then we have a band practice like a week or two after that and someone who comes into the rehearsal room like, "Guys, so I saw this thing, we have to try this." Or like, "Guys, we have to figure out how to do." - No, it's really cool, 'cause you'll go out and you'll just see another band do something cool and that's where the tracks came from. Honestly, as we saw, I saw a couple of their bands and I kind of took that idea and then changed it into this. What if we had our own little voiceover woman that introduced things and talked to us and it just made our set a little bit better? So I think that's one of the fun things is that we'll also go out and grab inspiration from other bands and see what they're doing well and try to adapt it into what we're doing. - I'm so glad to entirely born out of necessity too, 'cause I always forget to plug our stuff. - Yeah, so there would be like a break. There would be like a break in between songs and like, Andrew would tune his guitar and then like, "Look at me and I'm just staring at him." 'Cause I'm like, "Well, and then either I'd stare at him or we would just kind of start riffing and get into a bit." - And then it would be this, but we're onstage and we have like 25 minutes to play like six songs and Malcolm is sitting behind us just like I can feel the steam coming out of his ears 'cause Andrew and I won't stop talking. - And then just keep the beat going for you. - We're just still doing it 'cause we're both uncomfortable 'cause we're like, "Oh, it's quiet in here." And we don't fill the space with something. So we're just gonna talk to each other and then from the back, we would just hear Malcolm like, "Can we play a song?" And so then we were like, "We should find some way to fill this." - I was just gonna say, I don't remember what show it was, but I have a distinct memory of me. I might dig into our recorded sets and figure out exactly what Trona was, but this is before we developed Jesse, our voiceover lady. - Not related to Jess Murray from Farah Critics or Jess Murphy from our foundations. (laughing) - Not even almost related. - Busta. - No. - Farah from the fucker spot. (laughing) - Listen, but I remember like being in the middle of something, Malcolm literally just yells, "Talk about the music video!" (laughing) - Okay, so in my defense, it's written in the set list. - Oh, you need to defend it. (laughing) - I'm just like, I need to defend it. He doesn't have to. - I love them make the set list, but I format them, and I format them with like notes about like, like plugs this 'cause like right around that time, we would have just released a single. So I was like, plug whatever music video, like plug the new release or whatever. (laughing) - But again, too, when you're in, it's getting the moment. - Yeah, and he would just- - Forget about stuff. - And he'd forget, and then I'd be like, "I can't do this!" - I'll just do this off the dome, and this is gonna be fine. - And it wasn't, like it just wasn't, 'cause I forget what song just came out. - But yeah. - 'Cause it's not what we're playing next, so I'd be like, "Hey, I'm just gonna be with you for this without anyways." Here's a different song called this. - Anyway, and then I'd like look at Andy, and he's like midway through tuning, and I'm like, "Ah, so you guys don't even get jokes?" - Well, and like, I straight up black out when we play. - Like a lot of stuff. - Not like from alcohol, just like his nerves. - Yeah, he did. - Just hold on. (laughing) Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on. - Remains to be seen. (laughing) - No, 'cause like, we were playing in London. - I'm sorry, I'm not in England. - No, yeah, I haven't been there yet. - Someday. - Maybe. - Wait, for some, maybe? - Maybe, if you stream more in England. - Yeah. - Maybe stop streaming in Iceland, I don't know. (laughing) - Please don't stop streaming anywhere. - Yeah, man. - Two things happened. I thought it was particularly funny. One is, I just said, "Fuck a lot." (laughing) (laughing) (laughing) - Like, I swear a pretty healthy amount, I would say, but it was just amplified by the nth degree. - Right, like being on stage and having a platform to talk to people, and you know, just get hyped up. - And here just be like, "Fuck yeah, this fucking rule!" - Look, you can have someone to like, and if they are already like, you know, an outgoing person, they're just gonna go nuts with it. - Yeah, well that's the thing is like Malcolm or, Malcolm, yeah, I think it was, it was, I think Malcolm or Brandon, after it was like, "Wow, you said the afford a lot today." (laughing) - This is just like, you know, it was to the point where like, I just like, was hyper aware of it, because I was just like, "You're saying fuck every single time, "you're just not loving your old who just learned how to swear." - Yeah, but I have no recollection of that, because I just, I get, I can't even say that I like, get in the zone, I just, I think you're just so present that you're not making memories. - Yeah, because like, that's actually quite good. - Because like, you and I have like, you and I have absolutely shared moments on stage in like the most romantic way possible. Like, truly, this happens all the time. - You're so cute. - Thanks, man. My parents are nice people. (laughing) I didn't have a joke there. But like, there have absolutely been times where like, we'll be on stage and like, you and I will share like, some stupid look between each other and I'm like, "Oh yeah, we're both locked, we're locked." - Yeah, we're locked in. - We're locked in. - Like, yeah. - We're like, we're so dialed into everything that's happening. And then afterwards I'm like, "Yo, that was pretty cool." And you're like, "Huh?" And I'm like, "Right." He wasn't there for that, but he was there. - Not even almost. - Lights are on, but nobody's home. - So there was that. And then also we were going into Sunday scaries. - Yeah. - And I used my tuning break to just say, fuck so much. - Yeah. - But I forgot to tune my guitar. - Whoops. - So I've seen that it shows before too. Somebody gets so into like, the bit that they're doing and they're like, "Oh, fuck, I forgot to tune." So I thought he was going to say, "Oh yeah, I was at that show. "It was really embarrassing." - That's what I got to go. - Well, so we started. - I vividly remember that was the first time I saw it. No, first time I saw it because it sucked. - So we started playing Sunday scaries and it was just grossly out of tune. To the point where like I usually face Malcolm and we start it. And he and I just like made faces at each other. Just like, by the way, we're just like, "No." - No, stop. - Restart. - And then that was one of those things where like me and Brandon kind of locked in and be like, "Oh, you ever tuned your guitar before?" "Oh, guess not." And someone in the crowd, I forget who it was. If someone that you knew was like, "Hey, that bit you did where Andy's guitar fucks up was really funny." And we're like, "Yeah, that's that." It goes, "That wasn't a bit." - Yeah, no, it was a friend of mine and they were just like, "Yeah, that was really funny when like his guitar wasn't in tune and then he restarted the song." Like, that was a funny bit. I was like, "Oh no, that happens all the time." Actually, I was like, "Oh no, you should've just worked." - Yeah, that was such a great bit, right? - Yeah, we've been a workshop in that for a while. - But I think that's the testament to having like a very, I would say we have a very well planned out live show. That's one of the things that we have going for us for sure. And a lot of that comes from having, you know, not only prompts on our set lists, but also like a general format. So like when you see a Fremont Pike show, the songs that we play may change. They may move around. There may be more emphasis on like certain portions of the show, but we really strive to have a consistent show whether you're seeing us in a bar in Detroit, you know, at a festival or just, you know, in your backyard if you want to pay for it. But that's what I think that's something we strive for is to have that consistency across the board. - 100% and I've always had the mantra of like playing live. Like, it doesn't matter if there's half an audience, you don't give half a show. Like, and I think that's an ethos that we've all carried with us is like, if we're going to perform on stage, we're going to give a full show. If it's five people or a hundred people. And I think that it has what has garnered us some really awesome fans. Like we do have a few people that show up to like regular shows. - Yeah. - And then want to come up and talk to us. And it's a huge honor to know that like, not only are performance, but also our music does like reach some people and make a difference to them 'cause I can't tell you how many different bands I've listened to over my lifetime that have meant the world to me. And like I hold very close and dear to my heart. And like, they have no idea. Like I've never loved them. And I've never had a chance to like thank them or anything like that. And that's kind of the weird thing about this industry is you do so much that goes unseen, unknown, or unquantified. And I think that's actually quite a beautiful thing. And it just means that if you don't give your all, you never know what you're missing out on or what someone else might be missing out on because you just decided to give a half ass performance that day. - Well, and I kind of like in it to sports in a way too, where, you know, especially you talking about like, oh yeah, I went to a show and I saw, you know, the band do this. And we should try and do something similar to that. I always think about that. Like musicians going to a show is almost like players study in the game tape. It's like-- - We do that too. (laughing) - Whatever we can get a recording of our set, we will always, and then we'll go over it. We'll take notes, yeah. - And I think that there's a certain breed, a certain caliber of people who do, you know, take this shit seriously. And it is like, oh yeah, we're trying to do as much as we can to really like maximize what we're doing and what people are seeing. - And we'll see a thing that really made a difference to us, which I was not expecting was playing to click tracks. So our whole set is played to click tracks. That's how we do have some like effects that come in in different songs and like some added layers. So everything is to a click. And we talked about it for like a little while. And I was a little apprehensive. I was just like, I don't know if we're gonna be able to do this. It made us so much better. - Oh yeah. - Honestly, like, I think it's because like, you know, especially if you're going up there and like the adrenaline is kind of blacking you out a little bit, there's something about staying on the click track that I think keeps us together. So that we can even have a little bit more fun, honestly. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - And because some of those songs like, when they get a little too fast, I can like not play them as well because like, some of those songs like "Skis" gets really fast because we're just having a really fun time and it gets faster and faster. And then it gets to some like, double high-hat parts and I'm like, ah, yeah, so honestly playing to tracks has really helped I think like keep the performances like solid. And so there's honestly like, it's weird 'cause like you have to pay attention to stay on the click. - Oh yeah. - But once you've naturalized it, it's almost like less to think about and you can just have more fun 'cause you're not worried about like, always listening back to drums or always like listening in for all the cues 'cause they're kind of just internalized. - Well, it's the same every time. So yeah, you kind of get that muscle memory a little bit too if we play the exact same way every time. - And it probably helps extra that we practice to click tracks too. - Yeah. - Like when we practice our set, it's the exact same as when you see it. Like we're doing all the same stuff. It like we still have the tracks going there in our ears. Like that's what we do is we just play shows in Malcolm's basement to practice. - Back to the sports analogy. Again, you know, you practice like you play, right? - We change the color of the lighting some time. - Sometimes we get real rowdy and I get to throw beer bottles at Anthony across the room. He does not like it if you can believe it. - I don't like that. - I don't like that. - I get to do that means I do that and they just deal with it. - Guess it's an ass. (laughing) - All right, so I got one final question to kind of wrap up this first segment before we get to. - This has just been going off the fucking rail. - So our final question, you guys had for the, I believe the first single off of the album was "Clepto Kid" and you guys did a music video that you shot at an Aldi. Are those Aldi socks by the way? - Sure are. (laughing) - Yeah, he's wearing his Aldi socks, right? - Get that out. - Anthony, you guys show the camera your dog. - So this is kind of how it's supposed to be. - Show 'em your toes. - Hell yeah, dude. - Hell yeah, the dog's out. - Whoa. - You wanna be more. - I was gonna say, you got it, you got it. You got it, you got it. - All right, sign up for our sign. - I'm pretty sure he got it. - We got your background. - Yeah, it's kind of how the idea originated to be honest with you. Like Aldi has some of the greatest swag. - It was when we were doing vocal tracking here. 'Cause we-- - Okay, well we came over for like a weekend and Brandon and Anthony had full matching outfits. - We planned it. - We planned it. I texted him and he was like everywhere in our Aldi jammies this weekend. He's like, hell yeah. - And we were looking at it. We were like, that's so awesome. And then that's when Andy and I learned that that even exists. That Aldi does its own like swag line. - Sure. - And then most times when we have like what we think is a really funny idea, it always ends up with, that should be a music video. - So that's basically how it was born was we found out. And then so me and Andy got online to try to find like more. - Yeah. - And we got some, we were like, okay. - Dude, we got fucking scammed. Like you can get the windbreaker that I got for like 20 bucks when it's at Aldi. I'm paid like 50 bucks for that motherfucker. - What? - Yeah. - It dude is tall. - We had to get our stuff on Aldi because it was out of season. - Oh yeah. - We needed it. - Honestly, it's swagged out though. Like that shit looks so good. - Dude, it looks like those sweatpants, still my favorite pair of sweatpants, $11. $11. - I will say the lint from the inside is pretty crazy before you watch them like a dozen times. - Yeah. - Like the first couple of times I wore them, I took them off and my legs look like I was covered in burns. - But once you get past that. - Yeah. - The best sweatpants. - Yeah, that's a great set. - They're fucking $11. - Yeah, $11. I think my whole fit for the Aldi video, which is like those pants and the Aldi socks and the Aldi sweatshirt, I think it was like 30 bucks for all of that. - Yeah, I would guess like, I mean, around 25, 30, yeah. - So if you're making an Aldi run, what's something that you just, you have to pick up? What's your, what's your go to? - Honestly, those are egg rolls that we spontaneously got for the meal in the video. - Oh yeah. - Those egg rolls were amazing. I've got a nose again, those were really good. - I really like, - I really like Elfudge Cookies. - Oh yeah, those ones are good. - I dig Elfudge Cookies, but I also really like the fucking Simolas. Sorry, I was looking at you 'cause I was like, you'll know what the Girl Scout Cookie is, right? 'Cause we like Cookies, so I assume you would know. Anyways, I really like Simola Girl Scout Cookies. All he has their own brand of the same cookie. - Oh really? - And I was like, these are probably good. So I bought one once and then I ate the whole box in one sitting and I was like, guys, I don't even feel that bad. - I've been there. - So, I would say those. - All right. - It's been $30. - I think if I had to, if I had to go a second. - Oh yeah. - Only for the bit. I don't think I have a second, I'm sorry, Ryan. - Okay. - I'm trying to have something for the bit. I don't know, can I jump in with a story? - Oh, absolutely. - So this is specifically about the video because you're asking about what to buy. So when we came up with the idea for the video, we thought doing the shopping cart thing was very just like a call back to old pop punk videos. We thought it would work really well for vertical clips for socials and everything like that. So that was gonna be the A role. And then the B role was gonna be us going and buying a meal at Aldi and then having like a friend's giving. We, someone had said, oh, I saw an ad, you can get a full Thanksgiving meal for $30 at Aldi and we were like, perfect. That's great. We'll go there and we'll get the $30 meal. And we get in and we search the entire place and we cannot find it at all. - And I would ask that I was like, hey, and they're like, oh no, you can just build a pan. - No, you can, for about $30 you will be able to get all the things you need for a Thanksgiving meal. We had in our heads that there was like a box that you could just go and pick up for $30 and it would have like everything you needed for Thanksgiving meal. - Yeah, just pick it up like, all right. - Like a pretty neat thing, you know what I'm saying? - And we thought like, oh, and then we'll just throw it in the oven, it'll be good to go. And then we got there, we're like, oh no, this is not the case. So that's why in our friends giving meal, it's just completely random thing. There's like a piece of, there's egg rolls, there's an apple pie soup, 'cause I didn't buy soup. - Oh yeah, a pumpkin pie that we read wrong to cook it. And then we tried to like, double it and it didn't work. But it looked good enough to put in the video. But it was like complete soup, it was nothing. But that was the whole reason why like, it looks so random in the video. It's because we honestly thought we could go and just get like a box that was $30. That was a pre-made Thanksgiving meal. And we were like, oh no, so let's just get things. - Isn't there even like an outtake or like something at the end that somebody was like, fuck, we should have gotten a turkey. - Yeah, that's part of it. - That's part of it. - We didn't get turkey. - So we grabbed random things and we didn't even get a turkey. And then that's when we came up with the idea of like, well, what if we put brand in a turkey suit, like onto it? (laughing) 'Cause there's also like a kind of long-running bit that Brandon dies in most of our videos. - So I think it's three now. Three of our music videos, Brandon like, like visibly and actively dies. - Yeah, he and I get stabbed. You know, during a sword fight with Dylan. The drug girl, I get hit by a car, Dritten by our friend Alex, who is the guy at the end of Deepen, who's mopping up my blood. That's our friend Alex. He's the one driving the car that hit me. It didn't actually hit me in this car. And then in the car. - Movie magic. - Movie magic. - How do you explain the boot then? - I was saving children from a hospital and I tripped on my way down the stairs and it got smashed underneath of a gurney at the bottom. - That's true. I was there. - Good man. - You don't get blood after that too. - I was don't get any blood when I got there. - What a hero. - We're commissioning a statue. It's a very small statue. They're getting me a Lego minifigure. - Nice. - Yeah. And then in the club took a good video at the very end. They're like, "We didn't even get any turkey." And then they're like, "We should've got turkey." And then they both look at me and I turn into a turkey and they take me outside and beep the shit out of me in the backyard. Which actually, if I can break the fourth wall for a second, when I dove in the yard, I landed on a root weird and actually hurt my back. So then I got up and I was like, "Guys, that has to be the take." I can't do that again. They're like, "Go nuts!" 'Cause it was dark and they were like, that's close enough. But also, now, is that whole experience of going to Aldi and being like, "Oh shit, I guess we got to pivot." Is that not just the most freemont-pike shit? - No, of course that. - Where are we selling? - This is what's gonna happen to them. - Oh my god, none of this is happening. What do we do? - Perfect example. 'Cause one person said something and we all just believed it and no one was supposed to double-lead it. - Until, like, day? - It was Anthony and said-- - Until, days. - And then we find out the pre-conceived notion we might have had completely wrong and we have to go, "Well, what can we do instead?" - Hell yeah. - Well, we're here. - That's pretty much all every music video for us. - We're just like an improv comedy troupe that Moonlight's as a pop punk band, yeah. Like the Detroit video, like, we just made up all of those scenarios on the day of. Like, everything that happens in that video was completely made up. It was just the most we had was, okay, we'll do a performance in this location. And I think the location changed like that weekend too, right? - Yes, we were gonna do it outside, weren't we? - Yeah, and it rained. - And then it ended raining. - It was raining in that warehouse or whatever, right? - Yeah, it was all terrible. - Okay, yeah, Anthony's dad gave us the hookup on that. - Shut up, Greg. - So we did that and then like, and then the girls just, like, they were friends of Andy's work co-worker, you know, and so they just wanted to be in a music video. So we were like, "We'll just show up and we'll figure it out." And then we were just like, "Well, wouldn't it be funny if we all, like, tried to hit on them?" And they just like-- - Turned us down. - Yeah. - Just like paid it as and like beat us up and stuff like that. We're like, "Yeah, that's funny." And then we had some fake blood and see what happened. - Yeah, Malcolm was like, "Wouldn't it be funny if, like, we tried to hit on these girls?" And they just like made fun of us instead. And all the rest of us were like, "We can take it for-- - That's what happened. - That's what happened. - That's just what happened. - Is that not what happened to you? - That's not what happens to you? - We need to fictionalize this a little bit. They need to physically abuse us. (laughing) - Stop it. - Yeah, man. - Yeah, man. - Take him to the camera and says, "I." - And then they just flush him down and start kicking him. - And he's just like flailing around. That was so funny. - That was funny. - Yeah, that was good. - Everyone's really shot that. You remember, you had to fall onto me and I was like, "Oh, yeah." - Yeah, you had to hold him up. - Because I was always, he wasn't in the camera at all, yeah. - That's so funny. - And we did a bunch, and she was actually slapping you for, 'cause you wanted her to actually slap you for the blood. - I didn't slap the end as real. - I don't believe in faking. (laughing) - That's why he spit fake blood out. (laughing) - Well, and someone forgot to grab the sweetened fake blood. So I got the nastiest red liquid. - See, when you guys, when it was your turn to die, you had the sweet blood. - Well, that was the thing. When we did deep end, we had like one chance to do that. - Yeah. - Your death scene, because we just didn't have like enough blood and extra costumes. - Sure. - We do all these videos just basically as cheap as we possibly can. So when we did his, I was just like, okay, we ran through the plan like three times. We were like, "Let's go." And we just like, at one point, you had fake blood in your mouth, and you were supposed to be like, just like letting it like ooze out of you. Anthony like, "Pushed on your stomach." - Yeah. - He pushed it on my chest like he was gonna see you guys. - But he actually pushed it on my chest. (laughing) - And then just like spit the blood. - And then he was just like, "Oh!" (laughing) - And it was like, and then at that point, like I covered in fake blood. - Yeah. - And we like, you can't undo it. - No. - So like, at that point, it's like, I guess we were fucking rolling with it. - That's the picture for that. - No, yeah. - This is how we're ending this. - That was the madness that I've ever seen. - Yeah, 'cause in at the very end, I'm like, mouth on me else cut, and then he goes, I don't know, man, I think we're gonna have to go back and do it again. I think we need one more. And I've never been so mad in my whole life. - What are you doing? - One more! - Just like-- - Stop it! - Like, top of my lungs, I'm like screaming, what the fuck do you mean, one more? 'Cause like, I'm covered in like, sticky fake blood. Like, I can't wash this off. - Yeah, it's fucking off. - It's like in my eyes, it's all over my glasses. It's on my clothes. It's in my beard, it's in my hair. It's like behind my ears. - I'm like showering in the bathroom with the Franken Moose Historical Society. Like, in the bathroom, like, scrubbing it in the sink and I'm like, guys, it's not coming off. - It's taking a trucker's bath. - And then I'm like, oh my god, I think we don't have to do one more, right? And I'm like, I'm gonna go lay in the street for real. Like, not as a bed. I'm gonna go lay in the street. - So my favorite item from Aldi is-- - Oh yeah! - Yeah, how's it feel to be the one bringing it back? That's how my outfit feels every goddamn day. (laughing) - Fresh Fines, the movie. - Hell yeah. - I really like their salsa. Their salsa's really good. Like, their garden salsa. - Oh yeah. - I don't have the jacks chips, too, or is that it? - No, so that is scrubber. - That's scrubber. - I think Tringer Joe's probably has that, too. - Tringer Joe's. - The cantina chips that they got at Aldi though, those are good. - To die for, to die for. But, you know, like, their medium salsa, they made a hot salsa by them. - Oh yeah. - See, like, that's my one invariable. Every time I go to Aldi, I'm walking out with at least one thing as a salsa. - I'm always the guy for the taken bag pizza. - Oh my gosh. - I have my dog in my fridge right now. - Yeah. - Dude, the taken bags. - Their beef and poultry is really good. - Nice. - What else do you want to talk about? - So, I was gonna start to pivot to actually sharing the music that we all had a hell of a time getting into that playlist. So, originally, I was gonna start with one song. I'm gonna start with the other one, just because you keep making this joke and it feels like a perfect, like, segue for it. So, this is a band called "The Touchdowns" and the song is called "Paint the Roses." Their record label, "Dumb Ghost Records" has been sending me, like, their album early and stuff like that. And their album is called "The Touchdowns, the Movie, the Ride." - So, it's a rock song. (laughing) - So, they're like a power pop type band. This was the first single that they put out for that upcoming album, which actually comes out on September 3rd. So, we're only listening to it, like, you know, a couple of days early at this point. It'll be out by the time the actual episode comes out. - So, I think Malcolm's got the playlist dialed up right now. - All right, perfect. This is "Paint the Roses" by "The Touchdowns." ♪ Who gave them the ride ♪ ♪ Always be the voice inside me ♪ ♪ How can I be mad at all ♪ ♪ Why be so mad at all ♪ ♪ Negative, makes no sense at all ♪ ♪ There's no facts to give, where is all the data hiding ♪ ♪ How can I be mad at all ♪ ♪ They paint the roses red, as I'm gonna fall ♪ ♪ Are they trying to waste my time ♪ ♪ They keep telling me to fall ♪ ♪ They paint the roses red, as I'm gonna fall ♪ ♪ Hey, don't go to fall ♪ ♪ Cut to sleep at night all this self ain't true ♪ ♪ I mean, tell me how you live at all ♪ ♪ They paint the roses red, as I'm gonna fall ♪ ♪ They paint the roses red, as I'm gonna fall ♪ ♪ They're trying to waste my time ♪ ♪ They keep telling me to fall ♪ ♪ They paint the roses red, as I'm gonna fall ♪ ♪ They're trying to waste my time ♪ ♪ They paint the roses red, as I'm gonna fall ♪ - I like that song a lot. - It reminds me of Camp Trash a lot. - It does sound quite a bit like Camp Trash. - Yeah, it does. - Oh yeah, for sure. - They're working on a new album right now. - I'm dressed. - Yeah, I think so. - I'm dressed, who was that? - So that was the touchdowns. - That was the touchdowns. - And they're from Kansas City. - Cool. - It's a very nice. - Very nice. - Yeah, like I said, they, I got this sent to me by their record label, "Dumb Ghost Records," who have such an incredible lineup. I forget the name of the other band that they put out. But if you like went to their website or whatever, you would find it. And just absolutely incredible. All of their stuff is just like pretty straight to the point. Like, you know, power pop, hard rock type stuff. And I think it's great. - There wasn't a second of time wasted in that song. And I really appreciate it. - I'd give it six points. - Out of six. - Are we raising these out of ten? - Well, no, it's that isn't, isn't it six points where I touched them? - I don't know, you tell me. - Yeah, it's six points for a touchdown. (laughing) - I did it. - But if you make the extra point, it's seven. - Yeah. - I was thinking you were going for the, well, it was an IGN thing. It was like the seven out of ten perfect score. - No, that's incredible. - I'm just the drummer. - Yeah, he's just the drummer, but also is the one that has all the equipment. - That's right. - Because I don't want to put it all in the cars. - No, you're right. - That didn't want us to come to me. - There we are. - Yeah, it's next. - We're all putting everything. - But anybody have anything else to say about it? That's kind of. - No, I posted it. I like that song. - Yeah. - I think one of the things that I really like about it too is the bass line, especially in the second verse. - Yeah. - I heard that bass line come in and I'm like, "Okay, this is what's up." Because it's not just a straight ahead quarter note or eighth note thing. - It grabbed my attention. - Yeah. - That's what kind of caught me. And it kind of like resolves into the chorus. - And I think that in that sort of power pop sort of stop, sort of style, you need to find ways to shake up the song structure because pop punk very similar to power pop type stuff. There is definitely a formula for how people tend to write that type of song. - Yeah, crap. We could have been just following a formula and told them. - And what was mean to me? - And so you have to find a way to shake it up. And I think that the way that they did that with that bass line is really good. - Thank you. - Yeah, that was beautiful. - So, what do we have up next? - Let's just go. - That we're gonna do like one piece and go through. - We'll go around. - Anthony, which one of yours do you want to play next? - Stage right to stage left. - Oh, which one of mine? - Yeah, your next. So which one of your two do you want to play next? - Just pick a rush song and get over it. - If spear the radio starts. - It's supposed to be emerging bands. That was the criteria. - Galee Lee is emerging in my heart always. - Who's the ox? - Malcolm. - Yeah, Mack, just to play either multi-tool or UFOs in the sky. - Yeah, those were the two options. - Let's give it a little bit of introduction. - Do you want to say anything about what you want? - Do you want to pre-repost? - He's always like this. - I guess I don't know, start with the driveway song. I picked a song by Driveways. I feel like they're one of the few bands that has a seasonal effect to them. Really, really, really shines in the fall time. - No, especially this album too. - Yeah. - This album 100%. - I mean, all of their albums honestly, just like really fucking the fall. - Yeah. - I feel like there's kind of like I go through just like the seasons and you've got different things that hit you differently. In the middle of the winter, when you're just like cold and pissed off. - It's like that's the time that I'm putting on like some death metal or something like that. - Yeah. - But it's like in the fall, when you go with like, you know, kind of like the pop punk emo shit. - Yeah, it's just a definitely be like more of a spring summertime. - Yeah. - It's finally cool enough. You can wear your flannel again. Go full pop punk regalia. - Y'all want to start dressing? - Yeah, that's what I'm saying. - But you know what, pop punk product is timeless and seasonless and. - If you say NordVPN, I'm gonna throw you through a winter. (laughing) - Well, I was going to say that and then I was gonna say that truly the album that transcends all seasons and all my time. - Responding by truly now? - No, these are what, these are way close. Dog with a job at three month bike. And now available in all major streaming services. - Nah. - All four seasons. - Get yours today. Look at that. - Oh, hell yeah. - Look at that. - Beautiful. - Oh yeah. - Look at that. - It was the record. - Yeah. - I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hijack that. That was supposed to be a funny quick bit and just kind of guy. - What's going on? - So this is UFOs in the sky by dry boys. Every night I see a bloodshot eyes. As clear as I ever did. Floted by sediment. I swear I never meant to cut those stars. I was just irresistible. The South Asian has it in exchange. But sometimes when I pay my life, I can trade in a black and white past. Without the shadows I cast. I only try to find a place too high. Instead of helping you survive. Another night I fail it like my ass. And sideways speeding up the highway. I found my eyes fixed. Where I saw you a foe in the sky. I kept blind faith through every tyrant. To chew your hide all the time. And I never tried to make them dry. You made me fear your traction. I still hope you're still interested. A blow off the mirror. Sex that I wish I saw you a foe in the sky. You turned me into a skeptic. I wasn't home and directed. I shouldn't know to expect it. I still have a foe in the sky. I felt like I felt. Everything with your pale face still gets me outside. From the shelter that I've built. We're fed to life while we're remembering. I can't resist the scenic of decisions that I still lay. And I still have a night I fail it like my ass. Can't blind things through every tyrant. You can shoot her high all the time. And I'll never try to make things right. You made me very catching. You still have a spirit dressed up. Your vision blurred and suspected. I should have learned to accept it. (upbeat music) I feel it like my head's turned sideways, speeding up the highway, I feel my eyes I was almost going to put something from October forever on here, but I was like I was thinking I would smell that album at least three times a week, September October, so I'm like I'm just going to pick one of the outsides I mean that album is amazing, but we technically got to play on the same bill as them, about three years ago, they played an excellent C-Fest on the big city, and we were on that one too, we played just cool, that was the other we played right before goalkeeper and where are they from? Because they're a band that I have been like vaguely familiar with for a little while, driveways, driveways, driveways, driveways is from, oh they're from Boston I think, that's what I love about it, it's like the boarded, the door is now boarded, now it's feeling important, they got to be from like Massachusetts or Moon or something, okay, they send you a DM after the podcast, hey we're from New Mexico, please stop being a dick, they show a better next show and beat the shit out of Anthony I mean hey, that would actually be super insane, you said that you're making the title cards right, that's how you build, that's how you build the show yeah that's how he's going to do it, so funny, and make sure that it says title fight so that people think that it's the band title fight, but it's actually it's just us playing title fight covers, yeah sure, badly, you hear me out though hey man, Matt will you play the girlfriend's, the girlfriend from Hell track, this is a band that is playing, I think Chicago with former critics this week on Thursday, so that's how I found out about them nice, it is very like, it is very like punk music and it is, it's like riot girl punk, oh nice, it's like I had never heard of one before and Doug showed them to me and I was like this band, fucks, anyways, here we go, alright, so this is To the Front by Girlfriends from Hell, Girlfriend from Hell, part of me to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the back, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front, to the front *Sings* *Sings* *Sings* *Sings* Damn. Bro. I just. Hell yeah. Dude, if there was ever a song that was like made to be a kickass wrestling intro. Oh, alright. The thing that I was imagining when I was listening to this band and I was like, this would be really good for fresh vines. Was I was imagining like this. You remember when we put on that DIY show? Yeah. At the Knights of Columbus. At the Knights of Columbus in Brooklyn. The talk show. Like, this would be such a fucking insane like show opener. I imagine playing this in a sweaty dark like dive bar. That was exactly the picture that was in like a sweaty dark dive bar. You walk by the front and you hear this noise and you're like, "What the hell is that?" And you open the door and it's just like a mosh pit, the whole room and you're like, "I'm gonna go home." Is it so that recording, is that from a live release or is that just like. No, no, it's not. I'm starting. That's so fucking insane. I love bands like that that it just sounds like there's a one microphone in the room. Also, like you still hear like the dynamics in the parts. Oh yeah. That's such an awesome choice. Honestly, I think that for like, you know, straight up punk like that. That's like one of my favorite production styles because it is so raw and it feels like. Like, it has the vibe of like a live show. And yeah, that is definitely. That is the song that you start your set with just to get everybody fucking riled up and shit. It says it, it says it, get the fuck up to the front. Exactly. Come on. And honestly, that is one of my biggest pet peeves from bands is when they're just like after like a couple songs. They're like, "All right, everybody, move up, move up." I'm like. Yeah, Andrew. Like, there are bands that people have. There's almost like a magnetic energy to the live performance that people just automatically are going to get closer to the stage. Yeah. And I feel like especially when bands are just starting out, they have the tendency to think that they are owed people being right up front the entire time. And it's like, you know, you say it once, you say it twice, that's chill. But it's like after like a third time, if people are still like, "All right, get up closer." And you're like, "All right, you got to earn it a little bit." That song earns that, you know. I think that's what, like, speaking from my pedestal as a wise musician, elder in the scene. You started to say, "Speaking from my pedestal." No, no, no. And I was like. Stop! I was like, "Would you do that?" No, I know it was going to turn him down. I'm sure you are. I'm going to turn one of these to zero. And I'm just going to continue now. I just needed to share the panic that I felt in my chest when you were like, "Let me share my soapbox." I was like, "No!" As the hottest up-and-coming band in the scene, thousands of adoring bands. All over the globe. There it is. Specifically relegated to Iceland for some reason. I think the thing that a lot of young bands are forgetting about having that magnetic draw is actually putting a cartoon-sized magnet into your live read. You have to have that, or they will not come to the front. You need to have the Acme brand cartoon-sized magnet. This bit is not landed. This bit is not landing at all. I was like, "Where do you want to go?" So you can call your mom because you've been in life? No, I'm going to call the panic guy because that bit got real close to the time. There's a thing that's getting close. Congratulations, this happened on your podcast. Nice. Okay, so. Which one do you want? So we were instructed to select two songs. My two songs are 23 and disappointed by almost the mix tape. "Pound for Pound" is probably one of the best live bands in the Michigan scene right now. It is amazing how much sound that they can produce just as a three-piece and their frontman and guitarist Casey is literally just a dude with an epiphone guitar plugged into an amp. I don't even think he uses a tuning pedal. I'm fairly convinced that he has one of those clip-on tuners. It's nice. It's a sounding, if you've never seen them, Ryan, you need to check them out. Where are they based out of? You said they're making. Detroit. Roughly. They're Metro Detroit. They're one that I haven't seen around yet. I'll definitely keep an eye out for that. They're doing so fucking good. It's probably going to be the thing where it's like you don't notice something and then as soon as somebody brings it to your attention, you're like, "Oh, it's everywhere." I just didn't know. You just heard us say that. You're just not getting ads. Yeah, right? That was actually me with Hot Mooligan. I saw Hot Mooligan at least 12 times. While they were, I believe, touring pilot. And then when you'll be fined here, I was like, "Holy fuck, this band is insane." And I think Dylan was like, "Yeah, no, you've seen them a lot." You should know they're good. No, no, no. Cool. That was me with Heart Attack, man, actually for so long, because they get on tours and festivals and stuff like that all the time. And so I hadn't realized that I had seen them four times before I even really knew their music. I was like, "I recognize that song too." I recognized it. "Oh, okay, cool." And then finally, I actually listened to them. That's fine. Why is that guy yelling so much? So the other band that I-- Wanted to time? Yeah, Dylan, can we just do the almost- Are we doing both? No, we're doing one at a time. We're just doing one. So that's the one that you've been doing for so long. Oh, let's do it. I thought that we just had to pick our favorite of the two. Well, then son of a bitch, ladies and gentlemen. Oh, yeah, we're coming back around the horn. Guys, gals, MB pals. almost with the mixtape with 23 and disappointed. Everything that we do, we won't twist the fuck down. I believe the bullshit. This isn't how I thought it'd be. Sitting on its 23, like he comes up with, and nothing more than basic existence. Nothing more than basic existence. Take one step off and take two back. My way out is a heart attack. The day is over, fame and black. Remember, same as sex. This fame is all for nothing. We can't be part of something. It's all a fight for one thing. Don't care that all they say. Breaking up and losing sleep, like he comes up with, and nothing more than basic existence. 23 and just a pointed. These are needed by our choices. I just can't see what the pointed. Nothing's to be made of, so many. Giving up is just so easy. Fight sex, status, then go ahead. Catch it, burn my shot to make it pleasant. These aren't even my choices. Dude, I forgot that song has a fade out. Can we acknowledge that music just broadly speaking needs to bring back the fade out? 100% of you. Yeah, disagree. No, I used to listen to this. No, fuck you, I used to listen to CDs and be like, "Oh my god, there's a bone in his song to ear." He's up to drink, he's up to drink. Oh, party foul. Party foul. I'll get a towel when you guys talk about how great that song is. So yeah, almost made the base tape is fit, and now the pillow is in it. I just have to say the case he has a beast type of vocalist. Like I've watched that guy just like go through like long day sessions and he's just fantastic and just kills it every time. Reminds me a lot vocally of knucklepuck. Oh yeah, definitely not even that brilliant. Let me see that. I was like, "Oh yeah, that's knucklepuck vibes." Is that like upper register? It's that like upper register almost screaming, but not quite singing. Well, and I think that it also like almost sounded like kind of, especially in that like last, last like bridge kind of fade out, whatever you want to call that section. It almost sounded like a back and forth between two different vocalists a little bit, and they do that because they're two vocalists sound practically identical, which I think is really funny about knucklepuck. There are three piece. Yeah, and there's just a three piece. That's a crazy thing, yeah. That's crazy. Yeah, I don't respect for the three piece. 'Cause definitely fucking drop dude. That actually reminds me there was this. There's this band called, "Pangolin" from Florida. They say "Pangolin". "Pangolin", yeah. Yeah, nice. And I saw them play in the festival a couple of years ago. "Pangolin", "Pangolin". And they are the type of band. It's so thin, I'll just rub it so thin, though. Yeah, fuck me for trying to make this space nice. I'm listening around. I'm just saying like, "I'm gonna wait until I have the attention of the class." "Anger shut up, you're gonna get us some trouble." No, but. That's disappointed. Another band that you listen to them live and you're like, "How is that much sound coming out of a three piece band?" Especially because when I saw them, they were like using backlined amps and all that too. And somebody was like, "They're using the same amps as me. I'm not getting that kind of tone out of that. What are they doing?" It was in the hands. I had literally the same experience when we played the "Nights of Columbus" show with almost been the mixtape. I had like a Fender Champion, some amp, I don't know, we're not amps up anymore. But. Bye Anthony. Like, I don't know what. You guys watching "Modellers"? Huh, you guys watching "Modellers"? Yeah, everything's straight into front of the house. Nice, yeah. Our backs hurt, so amps are kind of awesome. I have a broken foot. That's, yeah, that's fake. The two aren't related, these are just two things about it. Honestly, they've been a rough couple. I used to be like three of them in my foot, bro. Yeah. No, yeah, I watched KC plug into that Fender that I had had for like a few years and just get sounds out of it that I did not think were possible. Yeah. The poker place is like an epiphone. special two, yeah, or two in your head. Well, you said it plugs like straight into a special. Yeah, it's a special one. Yeah, like if. At most, he's got like a tuning pedal. That's about that. He doesn't use external distortion or anything. It's insane. He's just cranking it. I mean, he's just cranking it. He's cranking it. He's cranking it. Is that what he said at an anthem? Just cranking it. Yeah, everyone's even like, "Why does Anthony say that?" Why does Anthony say that? Yeah, he's cranking it. He's cranking it. Yeah, he's cranking it as long. So Malcolm, what's your song? What do we got? I won the draw straws because all of us wanted to do former critics. Yeah, sure. So we drew straws in and I got to pick former critics. I'm graciously bowed out of that because I also thought about it. Yeah, I mean, former critics. Yeah, we're a huge train of former critics. Brandon is the bass player now. So Brandon's in former critics. I'm in former critics. So I didn't even know that. Hey, surprise, Ryan, I'm in former critics. Wow. He is the former critic. He's the new critic. I'm a new critic. But yeah, I mean, former critics is just straight up fantastic. We've done a couple of tracks with Jess now where we did a walk hard cover with her for a few good records. She helped them out. And she's also featured on Foundations on our new record. So it seemed very apropos. I just want to call out to that. I recently did a live session with former critics because me and Brandon are part of an organization called The Art of Music Project. Wow. Okay. It's a relatively new, but, you know, gaining adolescence. It's a nonprofit. And basically, the Art of Music Project kind of exists to create new platforms for emerging musical artists to experiment with audio, video, and set design to create a live off the floor session experience. Oh, that's so cool. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, it's really cool. And honestly, like me and Brandon are on the board, but Andy and Anthony have both volunteered. A lot of their time to help produce the sessions. Andy was volunteers of the year last year. Yeah, not putting the most hours, but the year. So yeah, so former critics recently did an AMP session with us. And so did I actually almost meet the mixtape. So is that something that you guys are putting out on like YouTube or something? Yeah, like is that something that people can find in all these different sessions? The Art of Music Project, all social media at Art of Music Project. Nice. Shameless pull. I'm definitely looking forward to checking that out. Yeah, that sounds cool. Honestly, before we're done here, I'd like to shout out a few other like bands that, you know, like, obviously, couldn't make the pick two list, but I definitely have a ton of bands I'd like to shout out while I have a platform. But here's mass hysteria. It's the first track of a former critics new album, which is just an absolute kick to the teeth. It's phenomenal. For a debacle. Yeah, yeah. So I really like this song. This was, say, what I hadn't heard before. The album came out. So I really liked it. Here we go. Mass hysteria. [MUSIC PLAYING] ♪ I'm a skin area, I'll pick out the ways no time ♪ ♪ The necessary and the necessary are everyone's blood ♪ ♪ They're glad to amide me ♪ ♪ The necessary and the skin area, I'll pick out the ways no time ♪ (upbeat rock music) ♪ Face to a light ♪ ♪ On these coming down our brains ♪ ♪ Holds themselves in mystery ♪ ♪ If you're better than shame ♪ ♪ Not the necessary, not the necessary are everyone's blood ♪ ♪ They're glad to amide me ♪ ♪ Not the necessary and the skin area, I'll pick out the ways no time ♪ (upbeat rock music) ♪ Falling in love ♪ ♪ No time ♪ (upbeat rock music) ♪ Don't waste no time ♪ (upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music) ♪ Not the necessary, not the necessary are everyone's blood ♪ ♪ They're glad to amide me ♪ ♪ Not the necessary and the skin area, I'll pick out the ways no time ♪ ♪ Not the necessary, not the necessary are everyone's blood ♪ ♪ They're glad to amide me ♪ ♪ Not the necessary and the skin area, I'll pick out the ways no time ♪ ♪ Don't waste no time ♪ ♪ Not the necessary, not the necessary are everyone's blood ♪ ♪ They're glad to amide me ♪ (upbeat rock music) - Hell yeah. - Straight out the gate with that whip is so crazy. - That's so funny. - Like, to start the record, like, oh my God. - Yeah, no, that's how you have to do it. I've actually been thinking about doing a drum cover of that song. - Oh, no. - It's gonna be fun. - It's gonna be fun, definitely. - That'd be really fun. - So yeah, that's for my critics, that's my first pick. - Yeah, they are such a fun band. Like, they're guitarists at any given moment are doing the absolute most. - Yeah. (laughing) - Yeah, shout out Dave and shout out Doug. Doug was insanely, insanely generous. He let me borrow one of his bases to, like, learn the songs when they were like, "Hey, do you wanna do this?" I was like, "Yeah, but I don't have a bass." And he's like, "I've got one, I'll bring it to you." Don't worry, he'd like, brought it to my house, dropped it off and was like, "Listen, if you need any help, you call me." I know these songs brought to back. I will help you when I was like, "All right, cool." And then I showed up and Dave, the rhythm guitar player, shout out Dave, who also does a bunch of their artwork. So like the show posters and stuff, Dave designs those. - They're sick. - I did not know that. - Did he do the album cover, too? - I, he didn't do the album cover. One of their friends painted the album cover. So the thing that I did find out was that the album cover is like, it's a photograph of an actual painting that someone did. - Oh, okay. - Although to be totally honest, I don't remember who it was. - It looked so sick. - So I'm like fresh in the band. So like, I don't have to know everyone that they've ever worked with, so it's fine. - But like, you're still in your orientation. - Exactly, I'm still with them. - He's getting jumped in. - I'm still in my 90 days. But yeah, like, when I was learning the songs, like Dave was so helpful to just be like, "Listen, this is the rhythm part." Everything that you do follows what I do most of the time. So here's what I'm doing. - Yeah. - Just let's just play through it a couple times and you'll figure it out. And it was like, between Dave and Doug, it was like, I think I learned, my first show with them was Pugfest. And so I learned a former critic set and I learned a pop cover set. So I learned 16 songs in 12 days. - Oh yeah, because they did the cover set too. - 'Cause they did the cover set. - Yeah, I forgot about that. - So I learned two sets worth of songs in less than two weeks because they were like, "Hey, do you want to play this show?" And I was like, "Sure." And they were like, "Great, start learning." So like, if it wasn't for the two of them, there's no way I would have been able to make it happen. - Yeah. - But yeah, it's like being able to, it's one thing to like be on the outside and listen to this music and be like, this is like really cool. - Yeah. - But to be in the room like at practice when they're playing this and like just watching all of them play together is fucking crazy. Like there are times at practice where I will forget that I'm in the band and I'm like, "These guys are so fucking good." And then I'm like, "Oh, I'm supposed to be playing something right now." And it's like, stop in the middle of a song. But it's like, it's so cool. I remember the first time I saw them. I wasn't familiar with them at all. And then I think it was last year, if I'm remembering correctly, they played at, they called it Snoopfest, which if you're familiar with the band "Tequila Mockingbird" out of Lansing, it was like Joe's birthday party or something, essentially, and they just booked a whole bunch of bands and they played throughout the day. And that was my first time ever seeing former critics. And I just remember being blown away by like, how much stage presence they have to. - Yeah, it's crazy. - Like Jess is an absolute animal on stage. And the thing that I love too is that you can absolutely hear this like, there's a little bit of sass in their delivery of their vocals. - Yes, a little bit. (laughing) - Yeah. But it's like that. - It's a microdosing sass. - Yeah. (laughing) But it's like that gives it such a unique sound because there's so few vocalists that have that little extra something that it's like, "Oh yeah, yeah, that's what I'm looking for." - I keep sending the album to people, mostly to harass them until listening to the bands that I'm in. - Fair enough. - And people keep telling me that Jess has a lot of spunk in her voice is the way that it's been described. - Yeah, okay, that's a good way to say it. - Certainly. - I mean, it's a good way to say it. - That's one of them. - Hey, I'm just reporting what's been said to me. - It's fine. How was that episode of "Fox and Friends"? - I don't know, I was a launcher. - I had better things to do at eight o'clock this morning. - All right, Ryan, what you got? - All right, so my next one, it's actually been kind of perfect because we've gradually been getting a little bit heavier as we've been going around. - Oh, bad news, I'm fucking that up when it gets to me. - That's fine, but it's been a good build to this, which is a band from San Diego, California called The Undertaking, and they are like a metal core, hard rock type of band. And this is their newest single, I believe. It's called, "If you're so rich, why aren't you smart?" (rock music) ♪ I'm too easily tipsy, not so much as I did to time ♪ ♪ What's the point at this end, not so much as I did to time ♪ ♪ Apocalypse is now I gotta get it all together ♪ ♪ All the sidekicks have been kidnapped ♪ ♪ All the sidekicks have been kidnapped ♪ - That was "Shake of Hell." - Yeah. - Yeah, that was tight. - I want to punch a politician. - Here we go. That song is like the perfect marriage between. Or like the perfect mutant amalgamation of not to lose treble charger and drug church. Like if they all got together and recorded a single. and it would sound exactly like that. - Yes. - And I mean, then the best way. - You know, it's really funny that you bring up, it's really funny that you bring up the best like mutation because the lyrics to that song are inspired by an episode of the '90s X-Men cartoon. - Oh, I know what I was just going on. He was on the wrestling. Anthony, what's your next song? - Goldkeeper. - Goldkeeper? - All right. - He changed his up to @goldkeeper, I watched him do it. - Yeah. - No, mad respect. Do you talk to those guys at all? - So I hadn't talked to these guys before. Like a month ago, they just sent me an email where they sent this to me. They told me about this is going to be off of their upcoming EP that in my notes says it's called Only Left Alive to See the End. - Hmm, Heart of Nails. - Right, that's what I'm saying. And it's like, it's just so hard. And the thing that I really like about it too is that last break down has such an interesting groove to it. - Yeah, for sure. - Yeah, it does. - That's one of the things that I always think is really interesting about hardcore metal core type of music is when you get those really interesting change ups because a lot of people do a break down and it's like, oh, it's just a bunch of zeros. (mimicking) - And that has-- - The Wayna Lord intended it. - That has its time of place. - This is one by the talcum. - But I also love when stuff gets like, has a really cool different groove to it. They really kind of like sets it apart like that. - Well, I think it's easy to us. - I think it was easy that like that song started and I think within probably less than 15 seconds, Malcolm and Andrew and I were all like, like all of us felt it immediately. And we were like, yep, this is where this beat is. - Yeah. - Man, this is a good, yeah, this is, this is what it's supposed to be. - This is what it's supposed to be. (upbeat rock music) ♪ Do you hear me on bikes ♪ ♪ Riding under the street lights ♪ ♪ Nothing on about the shit we said ♪ ♪ Do you gotta go home again ♪ ♪ Back to your best friend ♪ ♪ Where you'll talk about us all night ♪ ♪ How we were just right just right ♪ ♪ I wish I met you sooner ♪ ♪ It's like I always knew you ♪ ♪ I wish that could explain the way ♪ ♪ I feel right and drunk on summer love ♪ ♪ Feeling higher than the stars up above ♪ ♪ Tonight's not long enough ♪ ♪ Do you hear me at night ♪ ♪ Dancing under the moonlight ♪ ♪ Riding hearts and passion ♪ ♪ Sunset's bite ♪ ♪ You gotta go home again ♪ ♪ Back to your boyfriend ♪ ♪ Where you'll think about us all night ♪ ♪ How we were just right ♪ ♪ I wish I met you sooner ♪ ♪ It's like I always knew you ♪ ♪ I wish I could explain the way ♪ ♪ I feel right and drunk on summer love ♪ ♪ Feeling higher than the stars up above ♪ ♪ Tonight's not long enough ♪ ♪ How we were just right just right ♪ ♪ I wish I met you sooner ♪ ♪ It's like I always knew you ♪ ♪ I wish I could explain the way ♪ ♪ I feel right and drunk on summer love ♪ ♪ Feeling higher than the stars up above ♪ ♪ Tonight's not long enough ♪ ♪ Tonight's not long enough ♪ - Sir? - Hell yeah. - Such a good man and just the nicest. - I would say those group of dudes. - Yeah, I actually, I was introduced to them through you guys because of the show that you guys played with Cascade Riot and the Piper Room like a year or two ago. - Yeah. - So, those guys put on such a killer show. - Especially for, again, another example of like this band's of three piece. - Yeah. - It's like there's three dudes and it's like holy shit. - This is one of them like, 'cause like normally when we get like gigs, I like to see who we're playing with, right? - Sure. - Do some research, figure out what they, you know, listen to a lot of Spotify a bunch. - I actually got an ad for goalkeeper like the week before I found out we were doing this show on Instagram. - That's not what I was like. - Holy shit, these guys ripped. - Yeah. - And they were playing a game. - Holy shit, we're playing with these guys. - Okay, let's do it. - Holy shit, we're playing with these guys every time when we play a show. - Yeah, all the time. - Yeah, literally. - Oh, yeah. - She was the Friday hat in rotation. That's one of them. - 'Cause other ones is the banana hat. - Yeah, he loves the banana hat. - Or is this the last one we're going to have? - The banana hat too. - You can see that one in a while. - It's been a lot of banana and goalkeeper. - That's a Friday hat. - Yeah, I like we're in the hat. - That's a going out to a Friday hat. - It's a Friday hat. (all laughing) - If he's trying to impress somebody, that's what he's got. - Yeah, he's got something. - He's got something. - I'm here to fuck up the vibe entirely. - All right. - My next one is Fay Webster. She's like a, she's like a, I don't know that she's a small artist. I had never heard of her before, but I saw her last year at Royal Oak Music Theater because my girlfriend is super into her and I was like, oh, I don't know what's with this, but she's very like, it's very like, - I love that. - It's like, indeed lounge vibes. I just, the instrumentation is really, it's really cool to me and the way that she writes songs is very different from everything else that I like because based on being in this band, it's a lot of pop punk and rock music and this is super not what that is. - Yeah. - But it's just, this is something that, if you come to my house semi randomly, that's empty. - Damn. - Sorry, man. If you come to my house semi randomly, there's like a 30% chance that this will be playing on one of the devices in our house because it's just like, relaxing vibe music. - Oh nice. - Anyways, it's, I think it's right side of my neck. - Correct. - All right. - I say Webster. - That's where we got cute up at least. - I always love a good change up like this. (upbeat music) ♪ I got the one who got it ♪ ♪ Not to doubt you even paid ♪ ♪ Right side of my neck still smells like you ♪ ♪ Right side of my neck still smells like you ♪ ♪ No wonder if you got home ♪ ♪ Oh, we just said goodbye ♪ ♪ You look back at me once ♪ ♪ But I looked back two times ♪ ♪ Right side of my neck still smells like you ♪ ♪ Right side of my neck still smells like you ♪ ♪ Right side of my neck still smells like you ♪ - Another tasteful fadeout. - Yeah, I think so. - Business? One more time? I'm a fake westerner. - Oh, I bet you didn't like, it's like, it's not easy, are you? - No, I did. (laughing) - I like musicianship. I don't like lazy arrangements that don't end. (laughing) - This is like modern yacht rock in the best way. - Yeah. - It's just, it's good. like sitting on your couch, staring out the window while you play on your phone vibes. - Could you imagine that, like a thousand beers? - Yes. - Yeah, yes. - Yes, I can. [laughter] - At least a lot back here. - I think that's the plan for the rest of the night. - Round the water for the day, no, it's both by the way. [laughter] - We're supposed to have a rehearsal still tonight. - I'm sure we'll have a rehearsal. [laughter] - That'll be at least once through the set. - But yeah, yeah. - And then another time after I'm comforted. - Dude, yeah, that song was so fucking good. - Yeah, it's a cool vibe for sure. - That was a good vibe. - It's so much just like tasty little licks and stuff like. I think that that's something that I really enjoy in arranging is when an instrument has its time to just like do its little lick or fill or whatever and then just pull back into the background. - Yeah, me at the pool. - Fuck, man. - Like-- [laughter] - Like, you know, there was just like the little bit of the keys, you know, yeah, exactly. It's like small little pieces that come to the forefront for a second and then just come back. - One is free here. - Exactly. [laughter] - And then they're trying to get into this phase of the song and we're just like, in Yiddish and-- - Yep. [laughter] - Well, and I'll jump into it. - Yeah. - I think Anthony is a real master of that too. Like, if you listen real closely to our tracks, like Anthony's got some really-- - Oh, yeah. - --takes that a little baseline touch. - Oh, yeah. About your interesting-- - That was the thing when I joined former critics. I like, I texted Anthony and I was like, "Hey, how do I be cool?" And he's like, "You're born with it." And I was like, "I'm fucked." And he was like, "Yeah." [laughter] - That's like shit to be your panties. - Just got to find it, dude. - Dude, I've been talking a lot about-- - I've been looking my whole life. - Have you considered playing a Rick and Bocker? - It's true. - No. - No. - No, I'm playing an AeroDine right now, but-- - Have you considered playing a Rick and Bocker with an extra heavy pick and just beaten the shit out of the strings? - But spoiler alert. - Doug got rid of his-- his reverend base. And so, at the show next week on Saturday, I get to play Gibson Grabber, which I've never played before. - I give some grabber. - I'm not familiar with that. - No, I'm not running. I'm running into my Helix, and then it's through a pedalboard, and then into there, they have a PV firebase 700 that they run through either a 2x10 or they also have a 8x10. - Sounds like you're covered, but if you want to try the sandzamp, I got one. - Well, I highly recommend the sandzamp. - My Helix is running a dark glass base preamp, so I was going between that and the sandzamp, but I settled on the dark glass one because it worked better for what I was doing. - And I had to-- - I had to put it in front of the bars. - Especially for full recovery. - Yeah, yeah. - It makes a lot of sense. - Hell yeah. - Yeah. - You're 100% covered. - I mean, I was doing like this. So yeah, I get to play a grabber that has like the pickup that sits under the strings. - Inside it. - It's on a tray, and it slides. So I'm super excited to start sliding that, of course, in what happens. - Down for bright. - Down for warm. - Also just down all the time, then, because then it'll pump band. - Exactly. - Nice. - Broge. - No nothing else. - Exactly. - That's why I only get this stuff. - That makes sense. - And if you were trying to do something fancy or intricate, I'm sure that it would be nice to have the ability. - Yeah. - Or is it like a studio? - Like with how I did Otter Creek. - Yeah. - 'Cause I don't want to be a place for. - I want to be a place for. - Yeah. - Yeah, there's no place for it. I don't think-- I don't think full recovery exists in a place for it, to be honest. - No. - And you can be honest. - It sounds great. - It sounds great. - It's gonna be all right. It's just like fucked and wasteful wasting our time. - I don't know. We're gonna find out. - All right. - I can tell you that Anthony's like, "Oh, you're not gonna hear him." - This is just gonna be a conversation that I'm having with you. But it's not gonna be good. - This is just gonna be Anthony, like, wild in the background. - You have to boost him like 80, that's it. - Oh, I got it. - It'll be fine. - I'll figure it out. - Are you ready for your next 20? - We'll fix it in the edit. - All right, first. And we'll fix it in post. - You don't believe? - Are you? - I have no idea what's going on. - Yeah, we don't. - That's why we just found it. - Okay. - When you keep us on a drill, what is your song that we've selected for your second? - Why are we going mad with two different artists? - Dude, it's gonna be so fun. - It's gonna be so fun. - Listen to the two separate numbers. - Exactly. - I hope Ryan Hart-Payne goes to the right here. - I mean, it's about to say I'm gonna hard to change. - Yeah, hard to change. - The laughter in the right. - Yeah. - It's gonna be great. - We need to try to keep us on task for too long. This is what happens. - It starts breaking down. - I think Anthony and I made it. In fact, Anthony was talking like this the whole time. - I'm just fucking out now. - Wow. - What? - You got shut up and you're done. - Oh, nice, grateful. - I've never done a podcast before. - I don't know how to do a podcast. - I can't see anything. It was a fucking bird puff. - Oh, that's true. I forgot that you guys did. - Thanks, Melgan. - We're back on task. (upbeat rock music) ♪ Struggling like to pay attention ♪ ♪ Way more parents' generation ♪ ♪ Was in my mentality ♪ ♪ Turning it to fight news lying ♪ ♪ Sound black breathing ♪ ♪ And trying to understand ♪ ♪ God has no plan ♪ ♪ Way God ♪ ♪ Way God ♪ ♪ I want to explore ♪ ♪ Fuck this I'm doing myself ♪ ♪ 'Cause I can't trust anyone else ♪ (upbeat rock music) ♪ I've learned to read between the lines ♪ ♪ You can't trust anyone in life ♪ ♪ The power we know is on my mind ♪ ♪ I've come to understand ♪ ♪ God has no plan ♪ ♪ Way God ♪ ♪ Way God ♪ ♪ I want to explore ♪ ♪ This I'm way God ♪ (upbeat rock music) ♪ I've come to understand ♪ ♪ God has no plan ♪ ♪ Way God ♪ ♪ Way God ♪ ♪ I want to explore ♪ ♪ This I'm way God ♪ ♪ I want to explore ♪ ♪ This I'm way God ♪ (soft music) - And rounding out that block of music was swan-ton with Enseguiri. - Swan-ton? - So I-- - Incredible band name. - Dude, unreal. So they just got added to our show next week. - September 6th in Firm Day, the one with former critics. - Did I say Friday? - No, you said Saturday. - All right, now's the blackout thing. They just got added to the lineup. So I was like, oh, obviously I want to check them out. And I thought it was swan-ton, like the city in Ohio. So I was like, oh, that's cool. That's something that we have in common. We're named after landmarks in Ohio. - Would you call a Fremont Pike a landmark? - What's a road? - It's a road. - Is that not a land? - Is that not a road? - Oh, are you here? Are you going to play in a trip to, by the way? - Specifically to see Fremont Pike? - I lived around the block from there for a little while. - No, but you're using that trip so you plan. - There you go. - All right, all right, part of getting to your destination. - Anyways, so I was like, oh, swan-ton. That must be like, you know. - Swan in Ohio. - Yeah, and then I saw that this song was entitled Inseguiri, which only a true wrestling nerd would title a song about a fucking real wrestling head. - Only a real wrestling man would title a song after a fucking spinning kick to the head. So I was like, you immediately had my attention. And then I put Sune 2 together that it's not swan. It's for sure swan-ton. - Yeah, that is so killer. I love a great band name. I also love how this song just keeps grabbing your attention. As soon as you're like, maybe about to nod off a little bit. All right, we've been doing this for long enough. They're like, all right, and let's just completely change the vibe. Completely acoustic here for this section. You know, it's amazing. [BLANK_AUDIO] - The second riff, you know, had such a different vibe than like kind of like the intro to. It really like, you know, they do a good job of changing the vibe just enough to like keep your attention throughout the entire thing. - Well, there's even that little instrumentally period where just like nothing was happening in a vocally and I really appreciate when bands could do that and just like, they can affect-- - Do it well. - Yeah, and like effectively like give that space in some breathing room so you can kind of digest it and it's almost like a palette cleanser before rushing into like the back third of the song. - Well, and especially when it's not a solo too, because that was just kind of like a laid back like jam sort of section, which I think, yeah, you don't get nearly as much. It's often like, oh, here's a guitar solo or here's, you know, a breakdowns. - They translate to live so well. Like I don't know, I don't know about anybody else, but I fucking love just like watching a band kind of lock it and just kind of grooving together. - Yes. - Yeah. - Like that's just fun. It's just fun. - And where are these guys from? - They're from Michigan. - Really? - Yeah. - We're like, whereabouts are they from the local area too? - I don't know, I haven't met him yet. I'll tell you on Saturday. (laughing) - God forbid, I-- - Hey, Swanton, drop a comment please. Where are you from? - If you want-- - If you want-- - You can go be to my-- - What's your social security number? - What's your first great teacher's last name? - I have the shwickert. - Not you. (laughing) - All right, and rounding out the, rounding out our tunes for the episode. - What do we do out here in the area? - This may not play O Canada. (laughing) - Everybody please stand. - This is just one of my hands. - Small, argy artist. - Man, I don't think he wrote the anthem. - Just named Trude Keele. - I don't think he wrote the anthem. (laughing) - As a bowling person. - He did do blackface at one point though. - Did he? - Fuck you. - Oh shit. - No. - Oh. (laughing) - So yes, the artist I picked is, their name is Thought Squad. - Oh hell yeah. - They're based out of Flint. I kinda, I, yeah, I got connected with them 'cause I did like their first three music videos. - Oh, okay. - And then they started like really pop it off on TikTok, honestly. And they've had like, yeah, they're really doing quite well. And then we had also had them on the Art of Music project for an amp session. - So nice. - So we did an amp session with them, which is out now, which is really awesome. And this song in particular, I'm working on doing a metal cover for them. They reached out to me and we're like, hey, could you metal orize this song? - Metal orize it? - An industry term. - Yeah, okay, guys. - That's exactly cool. - So this is the original, the metal version is now, yet, but like this song is pretty awesome. And I'm doing a metal cover of it, like with slash for them. - Nice. - So that'd be pretty sick. - Also. - Fought Squad was in our music video for champagne to be released by Christopher Champions. They were the person playing guitar hero with our song. - Oh, nice. - Yeah. - Yeah, shout out Fought Squad here. - Quick question about that, just because I'm sure. - Did you guys actually get that like charted out in like Clone Hero? - Yeah, and you're paid a man to do that, yeah. - That's awesome. - As you know, it was Fiverr. Fiverr will get your crazy shout out to Sphinx charts. Sphinx charts on YouTube. We didn't make their YouTube channel, but they said to shout them out. So here I am. - Okay. That was another one, too, where we kind of just like had an idea that we started putting it together. We're like, oh, this could be really fun. - Yeah. - So yeah, so this is "Pound Cake" by Fought Squad. - All right. (upbeat music) - I'm a show you how to make a Pound Cake. (upbeat music) ♪ On the past but my friend love the cabbage ♪ ♪ I'll be doing sins ♪ ♪ I put on a bad habit ♪ ♪ I know a man here killed up ♪ ♪ Blue at my back, playin' leoprop ♪ ♪ Blight to a bitch, I don't see y'all ♪ ♪ So I put hope like a needle ♪ ♪ Black in my skin and white in my brow ♪ ♪ My shot didn't move, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Come below ♪ ♪ Let me see your python ♪ ♪ I'ma make it grow ♪ ♪ Only wet, niggas don't make booty on ♪ ♪ I'ma show you how to make a Pound Cake ♪ ♪ I'ma show you how to make a Pound Cake ♪ ♪ I'ma show you how to make a Pound Cake ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. ♪ I am a slut ain't no free beast ♪ ♪ Case to the lab, Boca Heaney ♪ ♪ Ghost did you bet he was clingy ♪ ♪ Ghost on his guy, it was easy ♪ - So hot. - Bro, so hot. - Literally no one has ever pronounced Lamborghini, Lamborghini, and that's like. I think that's the star of the show right there. - Now, a pound cake, thought squad's awesome. I've known them for a minute, so it's kind of like a duo. - Oh, okay. - So black bunny, if you will, is like the main performer, and then the producer is Ben. And they're, yeah, they're pretty good friends of mine, and it's been really fun to just kind of be like a part of their career even a little bit. And I'm really excited because I think you can really hear how that song could go pretty well and pretty hot. - Oh, I was immediately thinking like, oh, this is gonna go crazy. - Yeah, no, I think it's gonna be really cool. It's just, they, honestly, they produce so much content, and they've been on tour, and they're just like dominating TikTok and Instagram right now, so it's, yeah, when it comes out, we'll definitely make a splash of it, but I'm really excited. I was really honored that they reached out to me. - It makes sense to me that that would do well on TikTok. - Oh, he's amazing. - Most of their tracks are kind of like that, too, it's very explicit. It's very, in your face, Shadow Lemon Squad, but yeah, no, they're a ton of fun. And doing a live session with them was a lot of fun, and that was a great thing. - And when they play live, is that like a sort of DJ and an MC sort of? - They're basically like, yeah, yeah. - No, no, yeah, it's, it's basically like Thought Squad's performing on Mike, and then Ben's running tracks as the DJ for it live. But he does like, you know, he's been doing it all, so he's been doing all their music videos now. They're like live light show, he runs, and everything like that. Yeah, like it's a small operation, but they're really making a big impact. I think they've crossed a mill streams on a couple of their songs on Spotify now, but yeah. - And is that Thought Squad spelled TH-O-T? - Absolutely. - Yeah, okay. - They don't think it around here only. - I was going to say, only Thoughton. - Ben. - I mean, look at these shorts. - That's a big, more thought. - See, every now and then he has a banger, and we're like, everybody write that down, less thing, more thought. - Write that down, write that down. - That's something. - Yeah, that's the day. - Write that down, big dog, twice a day. - He's talking about like crafting a persona to Thought Squad. - Yeah. - They have this like recurring series of vignettes. - Okay. - Does that, like, put his grandmother, is that just some old lady that they-- - Ben's grandmother. - That's Ben's grandmother. - Okay. - She's a good spot. - She's truly like check out their TikTok. I normally would never plug a TikTok account ever, but not even our own. - Not even our own, but genuinely, they're fucking hysterical, and they portray this like just manic in your face. Like, it lends itself perfectly to like a metal setting. - Yeah. - But then you meet them, and they're just like the nicest. - Well, it just looks like a really nice like down to earth. - That's the way it goes though. I feel like you see like hardcore bands and stuff like that too, and you're like, I'm afraid of this guy. They've been shouting in my face for 30 minutes, and then you like meet them at the birch table. They're just like the nicest, most down to earth. - Yeah, I think they're probably the show. - Like you don't know what to expect. You're like, yeah. - Are you gonna try and fight me at the birch booth right now? - That's how people feel about Anthony. - And working on your like remix metal cover, whatever you want to call it, did they send you like tracks to work with as well, or are you kind of doing that from scratch? - Pretty much from scratch. I think they did send me like the basic stems. They didn't give me the multi-tracks, but they did give me the stems. So I hit like something to work off of. - Gotcha. - I have a side project that I do too, called "Sons of Horace", where I make like historical metal core, is the best way I can describe it. - Interesting. - And that's legitimately what it is, it's so fucking good. - All right, so we all leave these about historical events, and I kind of just do like a deep dive into historical, vent or historical theme stuff for like these little metal core EPs. So they knew I was doing that, so that's kind of why they reached out to me, is 'cause and that's all just myself, still produced. I just kind of do it on my own. - I feel like those 808's or whatever that base was with like some heavily distorted like 5150 type tones. - No, no, it's all due to, I think I do crazy shit. - Drop sea flat or something like that. - That's what I'm talking about, my guy. - Yeah, so yeah, no, it's fun. Yeah, I feel like I got the basic arrangement done, I shot a quick video for it, so yeah, no, it'll be good, but yeah, it was a lot of fun to work on. - Yeah, that was a really fun way to round that out. - Yeah, alien, what a spectrum. - I really love when people kind of change the vibe up a little bit, so you know, getting the song from you, and then getting that later on, really, really good stuff. Do you guys have anything that you want to plug one last time before we sign off for this? So thanks for your ask. So we have finals. Come to one of our shows, come see us play, and you can buy one of these. Yes. They are show-exclusive by us. Is it a color invariant? Hold on. Yes, you want to pop that popular one? Can we take it out Anthony? Take it out! Show us! There's an insert too, so you get all the lyrics. Nice. And a little message from us too. We go, look at that. Wow. Ain't she pretty. Come on. I was over there, dog. I know, but I don't have my mind. Are you showing us? We fucking have it. I have this in my house. It's fucking beautiful. Come get the vines. Look at this fucking beauty. Not truly. It's black sleeve, dude. Come on. Like, really? How are you going to say that? Yeah, and it's wrapped in plastic too, which fucking, come on. Quality. We're going to be numbered. Oh, nice. Yeah. How many did you get for this front? We did a run of 100. So, truly, between the show next week and Fresh Fines Fest, it's Smalls in Detroit on October 6th, right? October 11th. Fuck! It's the bathroom. Fuck! October 11th. They genuinely might sell out. So, if you are in the neighborhood and you happen to see us, approach us at our merch table. We will have Anthony leashed, so he will not bite. But if you don't buy a vinyl, he will bite. Also. So, just keep that in mind. Well, it's on socials because at some point, I'm going to take a handful of them to local record stores around Metro Detroit and be like, "Hi, I'm in this band. Can I sell these here?" So, watch out for that. Also, if you're a record store, please tell us how we're supposed to do that, because that would be nice. I already talked to a couple. Oh, nice. Yeah, but we still need kind of some help with that. We got a bunch of vinyl. Also, Sony, if you're watching. Yeah, Sony. How you doing? How you doing? Dad, if you're watching. It's been the Fresh Fines podcast. The show about discovering new music with good people. Fresh. Long as the beer holds out, we've got everything we need. It's 3 a.m. and sharp. Just wants to get some good beer. We keep up that best way we might impress ourselves a little too fast. If you say anything, take that beer through this night to five night. And I never want to go home. Take me back to midnight jokes and time when I did not feel so alone. I'm not alone. I'm not alone. Hey. Hey. Hey. We're putting miles between our real life and our 20-something pipe dreams. Well, it's been a far ride. I guess I'll go back across the bridge and wait around and work in life about the weekend. Say anything, take that beer through this night to five night. I'm not alone. I'm not alone. I'm not alone. I'm not alone. I'm not alone. I'm not alone. Try it right again. I'm not alone.